All In This Together
by yatypicalfangirl
Summary: AU: MI and IF crossover. Clary lives next-door to the Lightwood's and Jace Herondale. Will Tessa fall for Will Herondale or new boy Jem? Two rival groups, high school drama, a Shakespeare play and old secrets from The Circle return to Alicante...
1. Prologue

**Authors note: Hey guys, this is my first fanfic so just seeing how it goes. Disclamer: all characters etc. belong to Cassandra Clare. Enjoy :)**

 **TESSA POV:**

A lot of things irritated Tessa and it really irritated her when people were too lazy to put books back in the right place. You pick up a Dickens book? _Why put it back in the Shakespeare section?_ Tessa was in a bit of a mood. She had been shelving books for hours and all Clary had been doing was sitting at the cash register drawing.

"You could help me, you know, Clary." Tessa stated for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I told you, I'm busy. I'll help when I'm done."

"What are you drawing then that's taking so long?"

"I told you, I'm not telling."

Tessa sighed and sat cross-legged on the ground, mentally adding "procrastinators" and "secrecy" to the list of things that irritated her. Tessa pulled her brown locks away from her face and piled them into a messy bun on the top of her head, before she turned her attention to the bottom shelves.

Both Tessa and Clary had gotten jobs at Luke's bookstore during the school break. It didn't pay much, but Tessa didn't mind because she got to be in a room filled with pages and words and made up worlds. Being around Clary was a bonus, however she had been preoccupied with her sketchpad and hadn't been much fun. Clary worked at the till most of the time while Tessa shelved books, but they didn't exactly get a lot of customers, especially on the night before school started back.

Tessa was startled from her thoughts a moment later when the bell on the door sounded from the front of the bookshop. They had customers?

"Why do you want to go in here, William? This is just a dusty old bookshop." A gruffly voice spoke as the people shuffled through the store. Tessa froze. _Was that the Herondale's?_

"Because I am wanting a book. Would you care for one, Jace?"

Tessa would recognize that voice anywhere. Will Herondale. The beautiful boy with the silky black locks and stunning array of features that could make Tessa melt inside. The boy Tessa barely knew, but also felt like she had known her whole life. The kind of boy she only read about in books. The boy she had been secretly crushing on for most of high school. But she doubted he even knew who Tessa was.

"Red?" Jace Herondale drawled, addressing Clary, whom Tessa couldn't see but could clearly picture with a scowl on her freckled face.

"Congratulations! You know your colours! Tomorrow you can learn numbers!" Clary replied sarcastically from the till.

Trying not to draw attention to herself, Tessa tiptoed over to the shelf of books blocking her view of Will. Tessa leant over the tower of books she was sorting through on the ground and peered around the shelf.

"Holy, Dickens!" Tessa yelped, as the pile of books collapsed on itself causing her to go crashing to the ground, where she lay in heap surrounded by the fallen books. _What a way to draw attention,_ Tessa thought.

"Need a hand?"

Tessa looked up and her eyes widened. He stood before her; a perfect mess of raven black hair gathered around his head like a halo. Stray curls hung effortlessly over his forehead and framed his angular face. Bright blue eyes looked down at Tessa questioningly and she realized Will had asked her a question. He reached down and helped Tessa up from where she had fallen. _He touched her! They practically held hands!_ Millions of butterflies swarmed in her stomach.

"T-thanks," Tessa stuttered, not taking her eyes off Will.

"You could say you just fell for me," Will grinned, making her heart summersault.

"What, no, the books... They…" Tessa blushed and began to restack the books. Will smirked and picked up the books at his feet. Why was he talking to her? Why was he helping her? Was he just being polite? Oh God, she probably looked like a mess in her old overalls and hair falling out of its bun…

"Dickens, aye?" William mused, glancing sideways at Tessa as her cheeks turned a shade darker, realizing he was referring to her frightened cry from before. "Not my favourite author. I recently read _A Tale of Two Cities,_ actually, but-"Before Tessa could be surprised that he had read _A Tale of Two Cities_ , Clary screeching at the top of her lungs cut off the raven-haired angel.

"GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK, JACE HERONDALE!" Tessa turned around to find the tall, golden soccer player, dangling Clary's sketchpad above the five-foot redhead, smirking at her failed attempts to reach it.

"Come on Red, I knew you were short, but not that short." Jace laughed and started to open up the sketchpad. Then Clary stood up on the counter. Tessa knew this wasn't going to end well.

"I SAID GIVE IT BACK NOW!" Clary jumped from the till and launched herself at him. Both Tessa and Will ran towards them. Clary was on Jace's back, reaching for the book that was just beyond her grasp, when Will plucked her off and set her down on the ground.

"I know I'm irresistible, Clary, but you don't have to throw yourself at me." Jace smirked and dropped the sketchbook as Clary glared into his golden eyes with a look of malice.

"I think we should go…" Will muttered as he looked between the two of them, a small smile playing on his lips. Tessa's heart dropped as he walked away from her, leading Jace out of the bookshop. When they reached the door, Tessa could have imagined it, but he briefly looked back at her before Tessa and Clary were left alone in the shop, the door softly thudding closed behind them.

* * *

 **CLARY POV:**

"Jace Herondale is such an ass," Clary stated as she put her precious sketchbook back in her bag. _Who was he to think he could touch her property, let alone steal it._

"Didn't you guys used to be friends though?" Tessa asked cautiously, aware of how Clary might react to the subject. Clary whipped her head around to face Tessa, and then her expression softened.

"We were before… Before, you know what happened, which I will never forgive him for. I don't know how I was ever friends with him. I don't know how Izzy puts up with living in the same house as him, its hard enough living _next door_ ," she spat.

Clary lived next door to the Lightwood's; the family consisted of Mayrse and Robert Lightwood and their children; Alec, Izzy and Max, as well as Jace who was adopted. Until almost two years ago, Clary and her family had been close with the Lightwood's. Apparently, Clary's parents had been friends with Mayrse and Robert when they were in high school together. After Clary's father left them and Clary's mother was pregnant with her, Jocelyn moved them to Alicante where they ended up living next door to the Lightwood's. Clary and her brother, Jonathan, grew up with the Lightwood children and Jace. The two families would do everything together and Jace, Alec and Izzy were like siblings to Clary and Jonathan.

But of course that was all history now, as of two years ago. When Jonathan died. Now the two families, except for Clary and Izzy, had drifted apart and didn't get along. Clary and Jace got along the worst of all.


	2. Chapter 1 - First Days

**CLARY POV.**

"Clary honey, are you almost ready? Simon will be here soon!"

Clary groaned and rolled over in bed, hiding under her pile of pillows. Today was the first day of the school year and Clary had been looking forward to going back again, but the prospect of getting out of bed before seven in the morning was not appealing at all.

Grudgingly, Clary slid out of her double bed and trudged into the bathroom across the hall. She showered, thinking longingly of the sleep she was missing out on, then got dressed into the outfit Izzy had picked out the day before: A pair of pale blue skinny jeans and a loose green blouse, which Izzy said went perfectly with Clary's red hair and made her emerald green eyes "pop". Whatever that meant…

If it was up to Clary, she would go to school in yoga pants and an over-sized sweatshirt, but she was grateful nonetheless for her fashion savvy friend. Clary ran a brush through her damp carrot-orange curls, applied a touch of mascara and lip-gloss, and then grabbed her bag and art folder before she ran downstairs.

Jocelyn sat at the kitchen table with a piece of toast, in conversation with her boyfriend, Luke. Luke was like a Dad to Clary and had been living with them since he had confessed his undying love for Clary's mother about a year ago. Until then, Luke had still practically been part of the family but a family "friend". He had been friends with both Jocelyn and Valentine since high school. But they didn't talk about Valentine anymore.

"Morning Clary, want a juice?" At her confused expression Luke laughed.

"Only kidding, I wouldn't do that to you on your first day. Here's your coffee, kid." Luke said and handed over her well-used flask.

"Thanks Luke. I'll see you guys tonight."

"Have fun at school Clary! And say hi to Simon for me!" Jocelyn called after her as Clary tied on a pair of green converse and made her way to her best friends van.

It was a short drive to Alicante High and within ten minutes they had pulled into the school car park. Clary's phone buzzed, it was from Izzy:

 _We're all waiting at the usual place. Meet you there x ~Iz_

"Usual place?" Simon asked.

"Usual place." Clary confirmed, sliding her phone back into place in her pocket. They headed towards the courtyard at the back of the school.

"We've changed our band name to 'The Gummy Bear Avalanche', by the way, and Eric has booked us a gig at the café Wednesday night." Simon was part of a band which changed their name to something worse every other week. The band wasn't awful, but they didn't exactly have a large fan base.

"Really, 'Gummy Bear Avalanche'?" Clary giggled, choking on her coffee. At Simon's expression, she added, "I guess it's not the worst name the band has had, 'The Kung-Fu Butterflies' was definitely worse."

"I came up with that one!" Simon huffed. Clary laughed as they rounded the corner to their courtyard and found Tessa, Izzy, Maia, Jordan and Magnus and already there.

"You're finally here! Didn't want to get out of bed, did we?" Tessa teased, looking disapproving from her old wristwatch to Clary. Clary grinned; her friends knew her too well. She joined them around the metal bench, which sat in the very middle of the courtyard and was sheltered by a large apple tree. The group had claimed this spot as their own since the seven of them had become good friends in the first year at Alicante High.

Clary's group consisted of Simon - Clary's childhood best friend; Tessa, who worked at Luke's bookstore; Maia and Jordan, who dated and were in her art class; eccentric Magnus who wore more glitter than the art room even had; and Izzy, who lived next door to Clary.

"Hey look, here comes Jace's gang." Jordan nodded at the corner her and Simon had just walked around. Jace, the popular and good-looking school jock who every girl wanted and every guy wanted to be, rounded the corner with a smirk plastered on his too-perfect face. Jace was smugly aware of stares that followed him wherever he went. His toned athletic body, flawless mess of golden blond hair and transfixing golden eyes… that were looking right at Clary… Oh no, had she been staring?

Jace strode up to them flanked by his gang. His latest girlfriend, Kaelie, who was wearing a revealing V-neck, a mini skirt and a cake face of makeup, was hanging off his arm like a over sized handbag. Clary stood as he approached.

"I see you haven't grown, Carrot."

"If you're going be a smartass, first you have to be smart. Otherwise you're just an ass." Clary replied as she stood taller and glared up into his amused eyes.

"Oh, someone's feisty. I would blame it on your hair, but I wouldn't want you to gingersnap." Jace's gang sniggered behind him and the girl on Jace's arm smirked at Clary.

"See you have a new slut, Jace?" Izzy questioned her adoptive brother. She eyed the girl with a look that would have made Clary shrivel on the spot. "I've seen clowns with a more natural look than that." Way to go Izzy!

"Too many freaks, not enough circuses. Let's go Jace." Kaelie spat, giving them a look of venom.

"Listen to your girlfriend Jace," Clary stepped in. "No one wants you here."

"Oh _everyone_ wants me." Jace winked suggestively before leading his gang away as the bell rung for class.

 **TESSA POV.**

Tessa was appalled at how rude everyone in her English class was. Sure, it was first first day back and sure Mr. Starkweather was droning on a bit, but she was the only one paying the old teacher the slightest bit of attention.

Next to her as usual Clary was in a world of her own, doodling in her English book. She had her tongue sticking out slightly, a curtain of red hair falling in her face and was tracing the mane of a roaring lion.

Jace Herondale sat directly behind them and was texting rather loudly on his phone, the never-ending typing clicks making Tessa want to rip it out of his hand and throw it across the classroom. Jace would occasionally kick the back of Clary's chair but she ignored him completely, or what Tessa thought to be more likely, was too engrossed in Clary-land to notice him. Kaelie sat behind them also, and was complaining to Jace about a party she went to on the weekend and how some "moron" had spilt beer all over her "priceless" red heels.

Tessa's eyes were glued to the notes she was catching up on about the use of symbolism in poetry, when she heard the door creak open and people shuffle into the English classroom. Moments later Starkweather croaked: "Class, we have a new student joining us. Apparently he's friends with Mr. Herondale here, I'll him introduce himself."

Will, stood at the front of the room with a black bag slung over one shoulder and a familiar smirk played on his lips. In the light of the classroom, his tousled black hair contrasted against the paleness of his skin, and his eyes shone a brilliant turquoise. Tessa's heart throbbed painfully and wondered if he remembered their run in at the bookstore.

Tessa then noticed someone else standing slightly behind Will. Like Will, this boy was beautiful but where he had dark hair, this boy had blond hair that was almost white. The boy had slight almond shaped eyes and soft features.

"I'm James Carstairs, but people call me Jem." He smiled and it was so warm and genuine it lit up the dingy classroom.

"James Carstairs, welcome! You can go find your seats boys… Where was I? Oh yes, symbolism!"

"Jem! Will! Come sit with over here! Kaelie will move, won't you Kaelie?" Jace smiled flatly at his girlfriend who huffed and shuffled two desks over.

"Not _another_ member to add to Jace's gang _._ " Clary groaned.

"He looks like he could be kind of decent though," Tessa whispered as the newcomers took their seats.

"Before I pass out your homework, I'd like to let you know of the upcoming school production." Starkweather spoke, drawing Tessa's attention back to the front of the classroom. "This year the school is reenacting Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet_ and I encourage all of you to attend the auditions next week. They are early this year, but this is a big production!"

"You should audition," Clary mused next to her, knowing exactly what was going through Tessa's mind. Tessa knew the Shakespeare play inside and out.

"Me? Audition? No thank you, I think I might volunteer for backstage work. And anyway, I have to focus on my studies if I want to get into a good college."

Clary scoffed. "You're going to get into a good college, Tessa don't worry. This is our last year of high school you should make the most of it!" Clary smiled at her. "You would be the perfect Juliet, I can just imagine it!" Clary went back to her doodling with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Hey, it's the _book girls_!" Tessa heard from behind her. She spun around in her chair to find Will regarding at her with a bemused expression.

"It's Tessa _,_ " she corrected. One thing Tessa couldn't stand was nicknames, but she couldn't help the smile that escaped her lips.

"Fine then, Tess." He smirked at her and Tessa scowled but was thrilled he was talking to her. "We didn't finish our conversation yesterday."

"Which was…?" Tessa played cool, obviously she remembered…

"Dickens." Will smirked.

"Ah, yes. You mentioned how you had read _A Tale Of Two Cities_ , but I never got to hear your insight." Tessa remembered excitedly, happy that she could talk to someone, _Will_ even, about books.

"Yes. I thought it was rather daft. It reminded me of a romance story set in the 1800's, you know. Something that two people from that time would connect over, and the foolish but devilishly handsome guy would realize that Sydney is in fact, similar to himself."

"That sounds rather romantic, actually." Tessa piped up, suddenly on the defensive. "And how could you call A Tale Of Two Cities _daft_. It is my favourite Dickens' book!" Tessa squeaked, appalled for the second time that morning.

Suddenly Clary shoved a piece of paper in her face and Tessa jumped. She grabbed the paper from Clary and studied the drawing on it. It was a doodle of an old fashioned looking Tessa who wore a big dress with puffy sleeves and a crossed, lace up front. Tessa gasped, it looked like she also wore a corset, which squeezed her body, then her dress puffed out around her waist down to her feet. A speech bubble above her gigantic, pilled up hair read: _Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?_

Will tore the paper out of Tessa's hand and studied it grinning wickedly, as Tessa tried to grab it back but he kept if from her reach.

"What is it with Herondale boys and stealing!" Clary cried out.

Jem, who was sitting next to Will, took the book from his grasp and returned it to Tessa looking apologetic. "Excuse Will, he doesn't know much about manors," Jem said, smiling softly at her.

Will was still grinning at Tessa; "I think you'd make a great Juliet, Tess." He , _Will Herondale actually winked_ _at her._ But then the bell rung and he walked away from her yet again.

 **CLARY POV.**

Although Clary had told Tessa not to stress out about their last year at school, Clary was doing exactly that. It was only a few days into the school year but the art teacher, Armatis Garraway - who was Luke's sister, had already tasked the class to start planning their art board. The board was supposed to be a collection of artwork based around an idea or theme. This year however, it was important because it would not only determine Clary's overall grade for the year, but would also determine whether she was good enough to get into the art school of her dreams: The Shadowhunter Academy of Art.

Maia and Jordan were talking about ideas for their board; Maia's was based around the idea of feminism and Jordan's was to be a black and white theme. Clary had no idea what she was going to do.

"I need help, guys," Clary moaned to Maia and Jordan who were sitting with her at a bench in the art room.

"You have some amazing drawings you could start from. What about one the you were showing me of the lion?" Jordan suggested from the other side of Maia. Clary screwed up her face: "Boring. But I guess I could work with that if I can't think of anything else…"

"You'll think of something Clary, whatever you do will be amazing anyway." Maia smiled at her and sharpened her graphite pencil with Clary's sharpener.

Clary was a good artist and she knew that. Jocelyn was an artist too, but was more of a painter, whereas Clary preferred drawing. Ever since Clary had been old enough to pick up a pencil, she had been drawing. Clary drew for a lot of reasons, but she found she mainly drew to express herself and her emotions. After Jonathan died, Clary never let go of her sketchbook; she took it everywhere and was busy drawing practically every second of every day.

Clary had used her art to express her grief and loss of her brother and her anger that he had been taken from her. Most of the work she created from that time was personal to her and she hadn't let anyone else see. Two years later, just looking at the drawings sent her back in time; it was like Clary's sketchbook was her personal diary. Even though the drawings made Clary re-live the past, she couldn't bear to get rid of them because to her they held the memory of Jonathan.

Clary was snapped out of her reverie by the bell ringing for the end of day. She collected everything into her art folder and said goodbye to Maia and Jordan, before she headed to meet Simon in the parking lot.

Simon was already there, in conversation with Izzy who was casually leaning against Simon's van, her ink black hair cascading over one shoulder. Izzy was flawless and not only that, but she was confident in flaunting herself. Clary often found herself jealous of the constant attention Izzy got, the boys that trailed after her like lovesick puppies and the way Izzy held herself. Clary, on the other hand, was nowhere near as confident as Izzy and no one really noticed her – she had never even had a proper boyfriend.

"Ready for the gig?" Izzy called out as Clary approached, "Simon's going to rock!" Simon was watching Izzy in awe as she clambered into the van gracefully in her white angelic-like summer dress and towering red heels.

"Ask her out already," Clary hissed in Simon's ear as she got in the van next to Izzy and shut the door on his blushing face.

Simon was in his element on the coffee house stage, plucking the strings of his guitar, nodding and tapping his feet to the beat of the drummer. Overall, Clary didn't think the band was _too_ bad… they were definitely improving at least.

Her and Izzy were perched on stools at a table in front of the stage; Clary was sipping deliciously dark coffee while Izzy was trying to convince Clary that they should go to Sebastian's party. Sebastian threw parties that were famous in Alicante, however Clary had no interest in going because Sebastian was in the Jace-gang. End of story. Izzy was whining that she had bought a dress especially for the party, when she trailed off, looking over Clary's shoulder.

"Just to warn you, Jace and his gang are outside and it looks like they're coming in." Izzy murmured as she skulled the remains of her coffee and righted herself. Probably in case she needed to hold Clary back from strangling Jace.

Jace, dressed in dark skinny jeans and a casual black hoodie, sauntered through the entrance to the coffee house. Clary hated how confident and smug he looked. As usual, Kaelie, Sebastian and Alec and Will flanked him, but with the new addition of Jem.

"Shoot, he's coming over here." Clary slouched in her chair and hid behind her curtain of curls, hoping he wouldn't notice her.

"Can't hide from me, carrot. Maybe if your hair came with a dimmer switch you could though." The voice appeared inches from her ear.

"Maybe if you mouth came with a mute button I wouldn't have to hide from you." Clary retorted, brushing her hair aside to glare up at him. The band finished with a rambling crash, followed by dismal applause. Simon jumped off the stage and approached the table grinning.

"What'd you think?" Simon asked. His grin faded as he saw Jace and his gang.

"I see you've set time aside to humiliate yourself in public," Jace answered, a smirk on his too-perfect face.

"Leave him alone, Jace. He was amazing." Izzy replied as she grabbed Simon's hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Finally given into him, Iz?" Sebastian asked from beside Jace. Sebastian, the one who was throwing the party, was in Jace's soccer team and was his best friend. _Once my brother had been Jace's best friend, but whatever,_ Clary thought. Sebastian, like Jace, was popular and good-looking. He had hair an even darker shade of black than Izzy's, gorgeous dark eyes and olive skin. Clary may have had a little crush on him at one point, but who hadn't?

"Given into him?" Izzy asked as her face proved her confused. Simon, however, was beetroot red and seemed to be busy looking at a spot of gum on the floor.

"You guys coming to my party?" Sebastian asked, changing the subject with a smug look.

"Oh, we're very busy that weekend actually-"

"Yes, we're coming!" Izzy cut in and Clary shifted her glare from amused Jace to her supposed friend.

"Cool, look forward to seeing you there," Sebastian said, his dark chocolate eyes smiling at Clary. "You can bring your other friends if you want, the more the merrier."

"Why are you inviting _them_?" Jace seethed, a look of annoyance crossing his features.

"Jace, go get us some coffee," Kaelie spoke for the first time, not looking up from studying her glossy red nails. He huffed and walked over to the till like an obedient lap dog, Will and Jem trailing after him.

"Speaking of your friends," Kaelie said, eyeing up Clary, Izzy and Simon with malice. "I couldn't help but hear the book-ish one is auditioning for the role of Juliet?"

"Tessa you mean? Yeah we convinced her-"

"How sweet," she cut-in, "well un-convince her. The role of Juliet belongs to me." She cooed, smiling a false sweetness. Kaelie batted her mascara heavy eyelashes and pinched her red lips together.

"What a _bitch,_ " Izzy hissed to Clary. Louder she said: "Nothing belongs to you, Kaelie, including my brother actually, so back off." Izzy stepped closer so she was inches from Kaelie's face. The false sweetness was suddenly sucked from Kaelie's demeanor as she stood her ground; giving Izzy an equally fiery look to the one Izzy was giving her. Clary could practically see laser beams shooting from each girl's eyes into the others skulls.

"You can't control me and you can't stop me from having Jace." She jeered unblinkingly.

"I honestly have no idea what he see's in you. He sure as hell isn't with you for your personality." A dangerously scary look flashed across Kaelie's face before she slapped Izzy hard across the face with a manicured hand. Izzy stood startled as a red hand mark appeared on her cheek.

"Jace, control your girlfriend," Alec growled, as Jace strolled over to them and grabbed Kaelie's arm

"You and your little friends have been warned." Kaelie hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits. Clary had a sudden mental image of Kaelie as a snake. She definitely possessed enough qualities. Kaelie turned on her heel and stalked out of the café, followed by the rest of Jace's gang and an apologetic looking Jem trailing after them carrying their coffee's.

 **AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE REVIEW BUT REMEMBER I'M NEW AT THIS :)**


	3. Chapter 2 - Auditions and Soda

_**AUTHORS NOTE:**_ _ ***Used lines from shakespeare in this chapter that do not belong to me :) Enjoy.**_

 **TESSA POV:**

"You'll be fine, Tessa. It's just an audition, the worst that could happen is you don't get the part." Clary said, trying to reassure her. It didn't help.

"No, the worst thing that could happen is that I make a complete fool of myself!"

"Well, there is that." Clary agreed sympathetically. Tessa loved Clary and her honesty, but she was only making Tessa panic more than she already was: Which was a lot.

The group had convinced Tessa to audition for the role of Juliet and had practically forced her to the school auditorium where the auditions were held after school.

"We will be in the audience… Or we could not watch if you prefer," Maia offered as they entered the auditorium.

"No, it's okay. You can tell me how bad I was later."

"Everyone auditioning needs to sign their names on the board by the door and make their way backstage! Everyone _not_ auditioning needs to take his or her seats and remain quiet or leave. Now let's get this audition underway!" Mr. Starkweather boomed and clapped his hands together, the sound cutting through the noise of chatter in the semi-crowded room. Clary signed Tessa's name down for auditioning before Tessa could protest. The group quickly wished her good luck before Tessa was whisked away backstage and handed the script for Juliet.

 _How did I get into this?_ Tessa wondered as she sat backstage, looking around the room at her competition. There were about thirty other girls auditioning for Juliet, there was no way she would get the part, but did Tessa really care? What was she doing here after all? _She didn't audition for plays!_

It was a long and boring wait to be called, which Tessa spent doing what she did best; panicking. She had spent the last week studying Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, trying to better understand Juliet's character and the storyline in general. Tessa had prepared herself in case her friends forced her into auditioning – if she had to audition, she had to be prepared.

A while later, Kaelie and Tessa were the only ones yet to audition and alone in the room. Kaelie was reapplying bright red lipstick when she was called, and left with a flick of blond hair and an _"I'm so much better than you"_ look. That's what Clary called it anyway, and Tessa couldn't help but laugh every time Kaelie did it.

Tessa was left alone with her script and an abundance of nerves, but before Tessa could panic some more, a surge of confidence washed over her. Tessa knew Romeo and Juliet well; she'd read it at least ten times and had memorized many of the quotes. She bet none of the other girls had. Sure, Tessa probably wasn't the strongest actor, but she felt a connection to the characters and the old-fashioned-ness of it felt almost natural to her. The thought of Kaelie playing Juliet made Tessa shudder and she realized why she was there.

"Tessa? It's your turn. Make your way onstage, Romeo is ready." Mrs. Penhallow called and guided her to the stage.

 _Romeo?_ Tessa panicked suddenly and stopped smoothening her ruffled script. She had completely forgotten that people were auditioning for Romeo. _No, forget about who is playing Romeo, it doesn't matter. Concentrate, Tessa!_ She thought and staggered onto the middle of the stage, blinded by the brightness of the stage lights.

Tessa blinked, trying to regain her vision. The outline of a boy, who Tessa assumed was Romeo, stood next to her centre stage. Tessa could make out his confident stance, a mess of dark hair and bright blue eyes. Suddenly Tessa's vision swam in to focus and Will Herondale stood before her with a smug expression on his face.

"My beauty really is blinding, isn't it?" Will smirked. _What was it with Herondale boys and smirking?_ How was Tessa supposed to concentrate on playing Juliet now? _Focus,_ Tessa thought. _Standing before you is Romeo Montague,_ not _Will Herondale._

"I'm going to get you to read from the top," Starkweather called from behind his clipboard. "Remember, this is set in the 14th century and you are madly in love."

 _Ha, not hard to pretend._ Tessa glanced at Will who was looking at her with an amused glint in his eyes and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards.

"Action!"

Tessa stood straighter as Will began to read.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Tessa was surprised. Will wasn't reading from the script, meaning he had it memorized. As he spoke, he kept his eyes locked on Tessa's, and stubbornly she didn't look away. His words held feeling and had a depth behind them that drew Tessa into his every word. The world around her faded until it was just she and Will, and then Tessa spoke.

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

"Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.

O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;

They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."

"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.

Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged."

"Then have my lips the sin that they have took."

"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged!

Give me my sin again."

"You kiss by the book." Tessa finished and broke eye contact with Will, blushing as she tucked the stay locks of hair behind her ears that she had only just noticed were tickling her face.

"Bravo!" Starkweather clapped from behind his clipboard. "You two have great chemistry!"

 _Chemistry?_ Tessa was giddy. She couldn't deny the connection she had shared with Will. It was like the world had faded around them and they had slipped into a parallel universe - a trance even.

"Well done. The cast lists will be out tomorrow," Starkweather said, dismissing them.

Tessa glanced a look at Will. He grinned at Tessa mischievously.

"Well done, Juliet."

"So you don't like Dickens' but you're into Shakespeare?" Tessa asked, confused; she didn't know anyone apart from herself that read Shakespeare, let alone memorized it.

"Ah, yes, I find Shakespeare's works more entertaining than Dickens'. Glad I'll be playing Romeo and not a boring character like Sydney Carton."

"How do you know you're playing Romeo? The cast lists aren't out until tomorrow."

"Because I'm the best Romeo here, why wouldn't I get the part?" Will asked with a "duh" tone as if it was obvious and quirked an eyebrow.

 _How sure of himself he is!_

Tessa was good at reading different materials; she read almost everything, books, poems, plays and even people. She was used to being able to read people but she couldn't read Will Herondale. He confused Tessa.

She must have been making a funny face because Will started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You're trying to read me, aren't you?" He grinned.

 _How did he know?_

"Now you're wondering how I know, right?" _Ohmygod could he read her mind?! Did he know she liked him?!_

At her startled expression he added: "Believe it or not, Tess, but we're pretty similar you and I."

 _He doesn't know me, how could he be so sure?_ Tessa thought.

As she gawped at him, he slung his black bag over his shoulder and yet again, walked away from her, strolling out of the auditorium without a backwards glance.

 _ **CLARY POV:**_

"Hey Clary, wanna come over after school? We can work on our art board together and I have this new print I wanna show you." Maia asked enthusiastically as Clary opened up her locker and put her books away for lunch.

"Wish I could, but I'm working at Luke's bookstore tonight."

That wasn't entirely true – Clary didn't start work until five. It wasn't because Clary didn't want Maia's company, she did, but it was the art project that was the problem. Clary had been putting off working on her art, something she had _never_ done before. It was only the second week of the school year and the art board was due a few months away, but it would take a long time to fill up the board and Clary's drawings were always time consuming. Clary needed to make it perfect, her future depended on it and there was nothing more she wanted than to get into the Shadowhunter Academy of Art.

When Maia, Jordan or her mother asked how it was going, Clary told them she had just about finished drafting. But that wasn't true; Clary still had no idea what she was going to do and had no inspiration at all.

"I'll ask Jordan, maybe he's free," Maia pondered, running her fingers through her gorgeous dark curly hair that went with her caramel complexion. Clary's phone buzzed from her pocket.

 **Izzy: Come to the cafeteria NOW. We have a problem.**

"Izzy wants us at the cafeteria, apparently there's a problem," Clary repeated to Maia who frowned and led the way through the corridor.

" _What the hell is wrong with you?!"_ Clary heard Tessa shriek as they rounded the corner to the school's cafeteria.

Standing in the middle of the crowd was a soda-soaked, red-faced Tessa glaring at a smirking Kaelie.

"You want to know what's wrong with me? Well, It's you!" Kaelie snarled back at Tessa, "I warned your little friends not to cross me, and you stole my part in the play!"

"Your part in the play?!" Tessa repeated, outraged.

Oh no. She had forgotten about her and Izzy's run in with Kaelie at the cafe, and now that Tessa had gotten the role of Juliet… This was bound to be ugly.

Clary rushed over to the two girls before things escalated any more. It was extremely rare to see Tessa get angry, which was a good thing considering how explosive her anger was.

"I earned the position I got, don't be mad at me because everyone else thought I was better than you!"

Safe to say, things escalated.

The next thing Clary knew, Kaelie lunged for Tessa, Clary tried to break it up, and lunch ended with Mr. Starkweather handing out three detention slips. Typical.

* * *

"Have fun at detention!" Simon called after Clary and Tessa as they parted ways, Simon headed towards anime club, and Clary with an uptight Tessa towards detention for their "inappropriate behaviour" in the cafeteria.

"Will do," Clary called back sarcastically. "Have fun at anime club, I'll hopefully be there next week!"

"You do realise this is my first detention _ever_ ," Tessa stated and Clary had to run-walk to to keep up with Tessa's long-legged strides as she marched them down the hallway.

"Slow down, Tessa. I've got short legs, remember." Clary huffed.

Tessa slowed down a fraction. "Sorry, but I don't want a second detention for being late!"

They ended up being the first ones there.

Clary compared Tessa's watch to the time on her phone and realised they were late on _Tessa_ time, meaning they were still ten minutes early. Tessa buried her nose in a ginormous book so Clary decided to spend the the time doodling, hoping her creative juices would flow onto the paper and all her problems would be solved. _Wishful thinking._

Clary jumped when Tessa nudged her and she looked up from her sketch, blinking the world into focus. And there he was; Jace Herondale. Even in detention, he still had loyal henchmen trailing after him. Jace, Kaelie and Will flaunted into the classroom and took seats in the back row. Of course Jace would also have detention! Jace was known by the practically the whole universe as the school "bad-boy" and probably had weekly dates with detention.

Mr. Starkweather cleared his throat: "Glad you could join us, Mr. Herondale."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Sir." Jace called back.

 _ **TESSA POV:**_

Would Will think badly of her or be impressed that Tessa was in detention? It was twenty minutes into the hour when Tessa felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Glancing to check Mr. Starkweather was still busy with his crossword, Tessa slipped her phone out and almost dropped it when she saw the notification: **Will Herondale liked your photo 17 seconds ago.** That was the first time he had _ever_ liked any of Tessa's Instagram posts. She had nervously followed him months ago and had danced around her room when he had requested to follow her back. Although she had stalked him on facebook, she didn't even think they were facebook friends. That's when she got another notification, this time on facebook: **Will Herondale sent you a friend request.**

Tessa could feel his presence at the back of the room but didn't dear look back at him. Tessa couldn't help the smile that escaped her lips and the jittery feeling that filled her.

He was finally _noticing_ her. And that was more than anyone could really wish for.

 _ **AUTHORS NOTE:**_ _ **Fav, follow and review please beautiful readers :)**_


	4. Chapter 3 - Study up

**AN: HAPPY READING, FELLOW BOOKWORMS.**

 **Chapter 3. _TESSA POV_**

An unhappy rumble alerted Tessa to the fact that she was starving. Tessa had been stuck on the same algebra question for ages and it was really frustrating her. She had began to multitask, by bringing her study to the book store for when it wasn't busy. It was only a few weeks into the school year, but Tessa was already stressed and had too much school work and other commitments to juggle. The homework was beginning to pile up, and not only did she have the lead in the production, Tessa was also in extra groups at school and had work at Luke's bookstore, so that she could save for collage. All this meant Tessa forgot, or didn't have time to eat.

Grabing her phone from her pocket, Tessa texted Clary and asked her to bring Chinese. Apart from an old lady looking through the shelves at the front of the store, the book shop was empty.

Tessa had been growing hungrier for – she glanced at her watch - forty-three minutes, when the bell on the door finally rung and she shoved her algebra to the side.

"I was beginning to loose hope, Clary."

"Ah, I think you may have me confused with the short redhead Jace goes on about?"

The blue eyed boy held the door open for the old lady as she exited graciously and then made his way towards Tessa, carrying a brown paper bag.

"Will? What are you doing here?" Tessa asked, surprised but giddy with nervous excitment.

"I am here to deliver you food," he said, dumping the bag on the counter, its smell wofted around Tessa and enveloped her in a Chinese eromaed hug. "I ran into Clary

and offered to deliver." Will smiled a lopsided grin and seated himself on a stool on the other side of the till so they sat opposite.

"Thanks." Tessa smiled as she ripped open the food bag and shoved hot deliciousness into her mouth, attempting to be as lady-like as possible in front of Will.

"Why do you close your eyes when you eat?"

Tessa opened one eye and paused chewing, to look at Will who casually sat with his chin on his arms leaning against the till, raven curls tumbling over his forehead. _Oh boy, he was cute._ "I sometimes do. Did you know if you block out one sense the others should work better, so I can enjoy the taste. Why are you watching me? It's quite unnerving."

His blue eyes blinked at her a few times before he grinned, "No, I didn't know that." Blink, blink. "And, I'm studying you."

Tessa almost spat out her rice.

"If we're going to be playing Romeo and Juliet we need to study up." Will mused, still watching her, a smile playing on his lips.

"I guess we do." Tessa agreed, amused. "Okay then, I should probably know what your favourite colour is." Tessa already knew, but he wasn't to know that.

"Black."

"Why?"

"It symbolises the secretive and the unknown and creates an air of mystery." _Will Herondale certainly was a mystery._ "What's your favourite colour then?" He asked.

"Blue," _like the colour of your eyes._

Will looked up at her with a look of surprise which quickly turned into amsument. "My eyes?"

"Did I say that aloud?" Tessa asked agast, her cheeks most likely as red as Clary's hair. Will laughed, his boy-ish laugh echoing through the store.

"Fear?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Ducks." Tessa looked at him to see if he was joking but he looked truly haunted.

"Ducks?" she asked, "please explain."

"They're nasty little beasts, they are. You can't trust them, Tessa." Tessa burst out laughing, that fact was new to her despite all of her facebook stalking.

"It's not funny!" He cried and went on to tell Tessa a story about canabilstic ducks.

They ended up talking for about an hour about everything and nothing, untill it was the end of Tessa's shift and she was so giddy she felt she could float up on a cloud of happiness and hit her head on the cathedrial-like ceiling of the bookstore.

"Well thank you for bringing me food and coming for Romeo and Juliet studying." Tessa said sheepishly, gathering everything into her bag and clearing the till of any trace of Chinese.

"You're welcome, Tess."

"Tessa."

"Sure."

"Bye Will."

"Bye Tess. By the way, x equals seven."

"Excuse me?" But Will was already gone, before she realised he was talking about her algebra homework.

 _ **Tessa**_

Tessa walked beside Clary down the corridor to English the next day _._ They rounded the corner and Tessa followed Clary as she pushed the door open. He wasn't there. Her heart sunk. _Stop being so pathetic Tessa! He's just a boy! There is no way he would like someone like you anyway._

They fell into their usual seats. And then the classroom door burst opened and he walked in. Tessa's breath hitched and the world faded around her, leaving him in sharp focus. Will's sweatshirt was casually array, a grey undershirt peaking out from the hem and collar. Dark hair flopped in wavy locks over his forehead and one side of his face. Dreamy blue eyes lazily scanned the room. He looked at her and she froze, but the glance was so brief Tessa wondered if she had imagined it. She looked away as he took his seat on the opposite side of the classroom.

As the teacher droned on, Tessa was aware of Will the whole time. She occasionally glanced in his direction before averting her eyes back to the board and scribbling meaningless notes down.

Will had his phone on his lap, his head titled over it and raven curls hung disheveled around his head like a halo. The light from the window shone down upon him and turned the strands into dark chocolate ribbons. He would smile at something Jem would mutter to him every now and then, a smile that lit up his features and made her heart flutter involuntarily. Tessa wished it were her he was smiling at.

Will raked the disheveled curls with his fingers and tilted his head to the side, exposing the vulnerable, creamy skin of his neck, kissed with a singular mole. Suddenly Will looked up in her direction and Tessa flicked her eyes away quickly, silently cursing herself for being so easily distracted.

The bell rang and Tessa hurriedly packed up her things, leading Clary out the door.

"Thank you, Sir." Will called over his shoulder as he slung his black bag over his shoulder and shuffled out the door after Jem. He held the door open behind him and Tessa caught it from him, her fingers merely inches from his. She noticed that his nails were short, possibly bitten down. She wanted more than anything to reach her fingers out, to brush his. He briefly turned around. _Did he see her?_ But her opportunity was gone as Will disappeared down the corridor and out of view.

 _Why was he always disappearing from her? What was he doing to her?_

 _ **CLARY POV:**_

"Pleassssseeeeeee come to Sebastian's party with us, Tessa!" Clary begged. "If I have to go, you have to as well."

"Fine, as long as I don't have any homework that night." She gave in, she was such a sucker but Clary loved her. Clary lay sprawled out on her bed, scrolling through her facebook feed as Tessa sat at her desk, gazing out the window.

"What did Will want the other night, by the way? He insisted on delivering your Chinese food." She asked and Tessa put her pen down to face her.

"Romeo and Juliet stuff…" Tessa said with a dreamy look. "What do you think of Will?"

"Well, he's Jace's cousin." She said as if that was supposed to answer Tessa's question. "He's probably just like him."

"He doesn't seem that way." Tessa continued to look dreamly out the window. When had Tessa ever looked _dreamy?_

"Oh, no. You don't still _like_ him, do you?"

Tessa spun back around to face her. "No."

"Good. He doesn't deserve you anyway, Tessa."

The door to Clary's bedroom swung open and Izzy walked in. Clary made room for her on the bed as she sat down.

"Guys, I think Jace is planning Jace pranks." Izzy sighed

"What?"

"All I know is that he has recently collected a lot of spaghetti. I saw at least twenty packets lying on his desk and his 'Ultimate Pranking' book next to them."

 _What could he do with spaghetti?_

 **AN: REVIEW? X**


	5. Chapter 4 - Prank Wars

Authors Note: Hope you enjoy this fun little chapter :)

CLARY POV:

Clary just stared at her locker in silence. How he managed to do it? She'd never know. The only thing going through her mind, was that her locker was filled entirely with spaghetti.

She heard an equally stunned Simon next to her mutter an "oh no," before she screamed, "JACE HERONDALE!"

When she heard him and his band of merry men laugh in amusement along with everyone else gathered in the corridor, she ran at him, only to be held back by Simon and Izzy. Jace's gang of giggling idiots watched as she let Simon and Izzy drag her away from the scene into an empty classroom.

"How does he do that? How does he constantly get away with stunts like this? How can people actually help him?!" Clary exclaimed in frustration, running her fingers through her fiery red hair, giving up trying to de-spaghetti her chemistry book.

"Does it matter?" Izzy said coolly. One glance at the incredulous look on Clary's face, and the look of warning on Simon's, told Izzy that she should finish quickly. "I mean, Jace will be Jace and keep doing stupid things like this, you know him. But the important question here is, are you going to let him get away with it?"

Clary looked at Izzy consideringly, before answering, "Hell no."

* * *

Clary woke at 6am and couldn't get back to sleep. Giving up on her unsuccessful attempts to keep still, she grabbed her IPod and sketchpad, and quietly made her way downstairs and out the front door.

It was still dark, but traces of orange had begun to spill over the horizon like stains of spilt paint in the sky, giving Clary enough light to make her way down the porch steps without falling on her face.

Clary didn't have to think to know where she was going. This had been a constant routine after Jonathan had died. She had woken screaming or crying night after night to horrific visions of the crash burned into the back of her eyes. Clary had needed an escape, so she found herself across the road and at the top of the tallest tower in the playground, with a pencil gripped in her hand, and a page full of incoherent thoughts on her lap.

Clary had stuffed her IPod earphones in and was about to cross the deserted road, when she jumped a mile high as someone clasped their hand over her mouth. Without thinking, she bit down hard on the hand and spun around as the person cried out.

"What the hell, Clary?!"

"What the hell, Jace!" She cried back, picking up her sketchbook and IPod from the kerb which she had dropped when Jace had scared the bejesus out of her. What was he thinking? Idiot.

"I didn't want you to wake the whole street, that's all. You didn't need to bite me."

"And that's the way to not scare me? Wow you really are an idiot," Clary mused.

Clary gave Jace a once-over. He was dressed in what appeared to be jogging clothes; a grey muscle singlet, baggy running shorts and black sneakers. Clary suddenly realised she was still in her pajamas and quickly crossed her arms, hugging her sketchpad to her to hide winnie the pooh and piglet.

Jace stood glowering at her, which slowly turned into a smirk, "So how did you like the present I left in your locker?"

If Clary wasn't mad before, she definitely was now.

"I loved it, thanks a lot, Jace! You really know how to treat a girl. Kaelie really is lucky to have you." Clary said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I actually got the inspiration of spaghetti from-"

"All I heard was, 'Blah blah blah, I'm an asshole,'" Clary cut in. "I really don't care, Jace."

Jace stared intensely at Clary's face for a moment before taking a step closer, and smiled smugly before saying: "You know, Red, I honestly expected more from you. Retaliation. I thought you would've wanted the last laugh."

Although Clary was tempted to take a step back she stood her ground and smirked up at Jace, "That sounds like a challenge, Goldilocks."

"That's because it was." Jace replied, before spinning around and jogging down the stil deserted road, leaving Clary hugging her sketchpad and staring after him in irritation.

* * *

Izzy: The eagle has left the nest, we're a go.

Clary: Let me grab my supplies, I'll be there in five.

Clary put her phone down and watched from her window as Jace left his house and started jogging down the street. She waited for him to go around the corner before quickly walking outside to meet up with Izzy in front of Jace's car. It had been two days since Jace had snuck up on Clary during her early morning escape, and Clary had been waiting for the perfect moment to get her revenge.

"Okay, we've got thirty minutes tops until Jace comes back from his morning run, let's get cracking." Izzy said with a grin as she Clary walk towards her with her arms overflowing with post it notes.

Clary and Izzy spent the next twenty minutes frantically covering Jace's entire car with post it notes. Once they were satisfied with the now hot pink and purple post-it covered car, Clary brought out a black marker and wrote across the post-it notes: 'How's this for retaliation?'

Five minutes later Clary was quietly sketching in her notebook until she got interrupted by a loud, masculine scream, followed by a string of curse words. Clary grinned to herself. She did like getting the last laugh.

* * *

Clary slumped into her room, exhausted. It had been a long day, and it was made longer by the fact that everywhere she turned she had been expecting another prank from Jace and his minions.

All Clary wanted to do was sleep. Then she remembered the art project and the work she was way, way behind on. Art was Clary's best subject, but for once she was behind everyone else. While they were all drafting their art boards, getting approval and feedback from Armatis, Clary's pencil was hovering midair, a pile of discarded pages in front of her.

With hope to have late night inspiration, Clary pulled out her sketch pad from her bag, and turned her lamp on. She did a double take and felt her heart miss a beat. Clary didn't even realise she was screaming until Jocelyn burst through the door on high alert.

"What is it?! What's happened?" Jocelyn asked, looking around Clary's room in alarm. Clary pointed to her lamp, shakily, but it wasn't the lamp that had Clary worked up, it was the silhouette of a humongous and disgusting looking spider on the inside of the shade. She watched as Jocelyn moved towards it and quickly pulled the lamp shade off. They both squealed slightly when the big black shape fluttered the carpet at their feet. Clary sent a slightly panicked look in Jocelyn's direction, while Jocelyn leaned over to look at the bug.

"What are you doing?" Clary screeched in panic as Jocelyn picked the monster up. A flash of amusement danced across Jocelyn's face as Clary looked cautiously at what was in Jocelyn's hands. Clary immediately felt foolish when she saw that it was a black piece of paper cut into the shape of a spider. Jocelyn chuckled as Clary turned red.

"Goodnight, Clary. Don't stay up too late," Jocelyn pressed, eyeing the sketchpad Clary realised she was still had clutched tight to her chest.

"Night, Mum. I'm just going to go to sleep, not in a drawing mood anyway."

Jocelyn frowned at this, as if wondering if something was wrong, but didn't press any further and gently shut the bedroom door behind her.

Clary sighed and collapsed, sprawled out on her bed. Stupid Jace and his stupid prank. She was going to get him back if it was the last thing she ever did.

Bleep.

Clary dug in her pocket for her phone and pulled it out. It was a text alert. Oh, no.

Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. ~Jace ;)

Bedbugs? But the spider was on her lamp…

Clary tore off her blankets in a sudden panic and tried to muffle the instinctive scream that rose in her throat.

Her bed was filled with plastic bugs.

* * *

"Jace is gonna freak when he sees this." Izzy chuckled as she put another pair of Jace's (thankfully clean) underwear into the vending machine.

After an hour of rummaging through Jace's room grabbing whatever they could get their hands on, Maia, Izzy, Simon, Jordan, Magnus, Tessa, and Clary, had all gathered inside the school. If someone walked into the school now they all would've looked incredibly guilty - which they were. The whole group was here to help Clary pull off her next prank on Jace. Magnus had somehow gotten the key to all of the schools vending machines (Clary knew better than to ask how), so now they were all stuffing items from Jace's room into each vending machine around the school.

"This feels wrong," Tessa said, munching on another chocolate bar that she had swiped from the vending machine.

"Ha, speak for yourself," Simon replied while trying to stuff one of Jace's sneakers into the machine, "This is justice."

Tessa scoffed and raised her eyebrows, but before she could say anything Simon tossed another packet of stolen chips in her direction.

Once they had finished tossing Jace's stuff into the third school vending machine, they decided it was time to call it a job well done. Okay, that's not exactly how it happened. Magnus was helping Clary shut the vending machine (it was practically overflowing with Jace's stuff), and they heard a shout from the school elderly janitor. That's when they all decided to make like a banana and split.

Clary was greeted by an irritated Jace the next day. Although Clary was severely sleep deprived, and incredibly nervous about getting caught, the sight of a pissed off Jace could always make her day.

"Do you realise how long it took for me to grab everything from those vending machines?" Jace cried out. "Not to mention all the stuff I had to take back from girls, who wanted my things as keepsakes."

"Well hello to you too, Jace." Clary replied with a cheshire cat grin.


	6. Chapter 5 - CLARY-ty: clarity w a twist

_**AN: Loved writing this chapter, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.**_

 _ **CLARY POV:**_

Clary sat slouched under a gigantic oak tree beside the bleachers on the school sports field, a sketchpad open and leaning against her legs.

The morning brought out the beauties of nature that most people overlooked or failed to appreciate. Bright yellow rays filtered through the branches of the trees that framed the field. The air was cool and crisp; traces of a new season filled the air along with dew bringing out the earthly smell of the sport field in front of her.

Clary was dressed in her casual attire of a comfy oversized t-shirt and frayed jeans, today her jeans were pale blue and little pen drawings decorated them. She swept her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head and held it in place with an extra graphite pencil, letting the loose wisps billow around her in the cool Alicante wind.

Clary scrunched her face up in concentration and lightly gripped the pencil hovering above the page. She had decided to change her scenery; instead of the playground across the road from her house, she had walked down to the school to sketch.

Clary was slightly optimistic; she had an idea for her art board and had been drawing the golden leaves that formed a carpet around her. Clary had about twenty different shades of red, orange, yellow, brown and gold pencils lying in front of her, which she was experimenting mixing together.

Clary didn't know how much time had passed, but when she looked up she noticed the outline of a tall, athletic figure across the field, dribbling a soccer ball. He was wearing a black muscle singlet and shorts, his bedhead golden hair flying around him as he expertly tapped and pushed the ball around, guiding it with his soccer boots. The boy sped down the field as he avoided imaginary players and kept possession of the ball as he flicked it off his boots, knees and head.

Clary, who had never been a fan of soccer, even when Jonathan had played, was transfixed and amazed at the skill as she watched the path of the ball spiral and zigzag around the boy and down the field.

The boy reached the end of the field and gave a powerful kick that sent the ball flying through the air and straight through the goal posts. He turned around and Clary was forced to admit what she hadn't wanted to believe: that this boy, expressing deep artistic emotion was Jace Herondale.

She studied his face and was surprised to find raw emotion; his usual hard, striking features were soft and unguarded. Jace hadn't seen her yet, but at that moment, they made eye contact and Jace looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Clary?" He called out, squinting into the shadows of the treeline where she sat, surrounded by her golden leaves and pencils. "Clary?" He repeated, "What are you doing here?"

His voice didn't hold any sarcasm or wit or charm or anything, it was empty and for once Jace sounded vulnerable. For some reason, Clary felt she was intruding on a private moment.

"I'm drawing." Her voice sounded small.

"Well go find somewhere else to draw," He cried, his voice cracked as he started to stride towards her, ball in hand. "You have no right to be here _spying_ on me so just leave me alone, Clary."

"I have every right to be here Jace! And I'm not _spying_ , you don't think I have better things to do?" Clary seethed as she stood up, not caring to brush off the leaves that were stuck to was angry now: Typical Jace, thinking everything and everyone revolved around him.

"Do you even know what day it is, Jace? It's the anniversary of my brothers death, so if anything, _you_ should be the one leaving _me_ alone."

Jace's expression hardened as he stared at her. "Your brother was my best friend, Clary." He shouted and his voice echoed off the field and through the trees, startling nearby birds.

"Don't make me laugh! You've obviously moved on. You have no heart Jace, none at all."

Jace was no more than a meter away from her now, close enough that Clary was surprised to see tears running down his face, and she realized her own face was damp and her vision blurred.

"I think about the crash everyday _, everyday,_ Clary. You would think after two years it would get easier, but it doesn't. And today especially is not easy." Jace's chest heaved as he took a step closer.

He was still holding the ball, and now she was closer, she instantly recognized it. A battered gold soccer ball and the initials _J.M_ stitched in black. Clary gasped: "Why the hell do you have Jonathan's ball? Give it!" She grabbed onto the ball. "I said, give me Jonathan's ball, Jace!" Clary put all her strength into tugging the ball out of Jace's hold; clearly surprising Jace as she went stumbling backwards to land on the carpet of leaves, bringing him down with her.

Jace had fallen on top of her and Clary was too stunned to move as she lay beneath him. Clary's pencil must have fallen out of her bun, as copper locks spilled around them. Clary looked up into Jace's sad, golden eyes and wondered, how he was obviously torn apart but still looked so perfect. Disheveled golden blond curls hung limply around his sunken face and he had noticeable bags under his eyes, but he was still beautiful.

They looked into each other's eyes and in that moment they had a silent understanding.

"I'm sorry, Clary," Jace whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

* * *

 _ **Two Years Ago - JACE POV:**_

Jace stumbled over yet another unconscious body sprawled on the floor as he made his way through the trashed room to Jonathan. He was witnessing what one of Magnus Bane's famous parties looked like at four in the morning. As soon as Jonathan caught sight of Jace, he smiled broadly before winning at the tipsy girl in front of him and unsteadily walking towards Jace.

"Hey, Bro," Jonathan slurred as he playfully punched Jace's shoulder. "You ready to leave?"

"Yeah man, let's go," Jace replied with a grin, before dizzily trailing out of the room after Jonathan's retreating figure. Jace watched Jonathan yank the silver keys out of his signature leather jacket.

"Are you okay to drive, man?" Jace asked doubtfully as they descended the slippery marble stairs at the entrance of Magnus's house, which was more of a mansion.

"Dude, I am fine. I may have had a few but I'm good to drive."

In the back of his mind Jace wondered if it was really the best idea to, not only let the drunken Jonathan drive, but get in the car with him. But then again, this was Jonathan. Cool, calm, and collected, Jonathan, who was two years older and always looking out for Jace and Clary. He trusted Jonathan, and if Jonathan said he was okay to drive, he was okay to drive.

If only Jace had known just how wrong he was.

Jace opened the meticulously cleaned black door of the passenger seat to Jonathan's car. Jonathan has just gotten it for his eighteenth birthday, and his love for it was almost concerning. Just as Jace flopped into his seat, Jonathan's car roared to life; illuminating the line of cars parked up and down the street before them.

"You know, I saw that pretty hot blonde eyeing you up back there. Kaelie?" Jonathan joked as he lazily spun the car's steering wheel. "When you next see her, don't forget to use protection."

"Shut up, dude," Jace muttered heatedly, as he crossed his arms in irritation.

"Oh right, how could I forget about Clarissa Fray, the great love of your life?"

"Dude!" Jace cried in indignation while Jonathan cackled at Jace's distress.

"Okay, okay, I'll drop it. For now." Jonathan laughed as he turned his head to ruffle Jace's hair.

Jace saw the headlights before he saw the car. The lights illuminated Jonathan's grinning face, angelic-like. And then they collided with the car.

The car smashed into the side of Jonathan's and they were sent spinning. Jace felt his heart drop into his stomach before everything went black.

When Jace regained consciousness the first thing that hit him was the searing pain in his thigh. A shard of glass stained with blood, his blood, had impaled his leg. Then he remembered what had happened and adrenaline surged through him, dulling the pain. Jace reached out in panic once he realized he was upside down, dangling from the seat belt of Jonathan's car like a helpless spider.

"Jonathan!" Jace cried out, as he frantically searched his blurry surrounding, which was barely visible by the light of the moon.

"Jonathan!" Jace yelled hoarsely as he tried to free himself from the seatbelt, which trapped him against the car. "Oh god," Jace murmured painfully as he saw his friend's crumpled, bloody figure, lying through the smashed windscreen of the car.

Jace hissed in pain as he escaped the restraints of the seat belt and hit the ground. He attempted to wipe the blood trickling down his brow before he dragged himself through the shattered remains of the windshield and towards his friend's unmoving body.

"Jonathan?" Jace whimpered once he had reached his friend's side. Jonathan's face remained facing the ground and his body did not stir. Jace gently placed his arm on his friend's shoulder, only to find it saturated with blood. In the back of his mind, Jace registered the sharp, icy rain that had began to fall and the ringing of sirens in the distance, but he could not take his eyes off his friend. As he turned Jonathan's body he took in the bruised and bloody skin, the cuts carved deep with stray shards of glass. He couldn't take his eyes off of the blood still trickling out of Jonathan's straight nose, or the blood covering the permanent smile on Jonathan's mouth. And Jace would never forget Jonathan's lifeless green eyes, staring blankly at the moon that stared straight back.

* * *

 _ **Present Day -**_ _ **CLARY POV:**_

Clary huffed and rolled over in bed to grab her phone from the cluttered nightstand where it was charging. The lock screen; a selfie of her, Tessa, Izzy, Simon, Magnus, Maia and Jordan, their overly-happy faces crammed into the small frame, lit up Clary's dark bedroom as she read the time: 2:03. Sighing and giving up hope of sleep, Clary clambered out of bed and crossed the room to collapse in her desk chair, which had half her wardrobe draped over the back of it.

The nights were the hardest for Clary during the weeks after Jonathan's death. When everything was quiet and there were no distractions, Clary's mind was left to swarm with the dreaded thoughts and images. The memory of accident was burned into Clary's head, haunting her when she closed her eyes. Clary and Jonathan had not only been siblings - they had been best friends, therefore when she had seen Jonathan that night two years ago, staring lifelessly into the night sky, a small smile remaining on his face, Clary felt as though someone had reached into her chest and tore her heart into a million pieces. Like humpty-dumpty not able to be put together again. She was left drowning deep in her misery.

Clary would wake from haunting nightmares, slick with sweat and gasping for breath, sobs wreaking her frail body. Often, she would find herself crossing the hallway to Jonathan's bedroom where he would have made space for her in his bed and soothingly rubbed her back, whispering reassurances in her ear that it was only a nightmare, none of it was real. But what was real was that Jonathan was gone and when she reached his room, his bed was always cold. Empty.

Clary pulled across the curtain above her desk and gazed out the window to the Lightwood house. Jace's bedroom was directly opposite hers, dimly illuminated by the streetlights. The last time she had seen Jace was after he had said he was sorry. Jace had scrambled to his feet and ran away from her, out of the school, leaving Clary in her pile of golden leaves.

She still had to sort things with him. Clay had seen a side of Jace she had never imagined he possessed: vulnerable, emotional and in grief. Come to think of it, Clary had never seen Jace cry, not even when he was a kid and had broken his arm falling from the tree house. He had been a tough kid and had never showed much emotion.

Lost in thought, Clary realized with a start; she had never hated Jace. Sure, she had hated how arrogant and obnoxious he acted and she hated how he paraded around without a care in the world, but Clary had never really thought why Jace was the way he was. _Why was he so different from the boy she once knew?_ Was it because of the accident? Was it because of _her?_

She had been gazing at the velvet, star scattered sky for over half an hour when out of the corner of her eye, she saw the window of Jace's bedroom slowly inch open. Clary, now alert, watched as the figure that could only be Jace, expertly slid down the roof and climbed down the trellis attached to the side of the house, before he disappeared from view. Curious, Clary opened up her own window and carefully made her way onto the cold, aluminum roof. She spotted Jace climb up the old tree house and without thinking, Clary walked until the roof lined up with the tree, then grabbed into a branch and swung herself through, like she had done countless times before.

She landed in the tree house with a thud and Jace spun around in alarm.

"Clary?" It was dark, but moonlight spilt through the tree house, illuminating his face in an unearthly glow. She could see the defined bags under his eyes and his disarrayed hair, as if he had raked his hands through it over and over again.

"I can't sleep," she stated and rubbed her arms, wishing she had brought a sweater. "Jace, we need to talk."

Jace didn't reply, but nodded as he sat down, leaning his back against the sturdy tree house wall.

"I've been thinking, a lot, and I've realized something." Clary took a deep breath and sat down beside him. _How was she supposed to say this?_ "Jace, for two whole years I've blamed you for the accident and for Jonathan's death because I believed it truly was your fault."

"Clary, I told you, I'm really sorry-"

"No, Jace, the thing is you shouldn't be sorry because none of it was your fault. I just realized _why_ I hated you so much, Jace. I needed someone to blame for Jonathan's death, to make it easier. So I could take all my anger of losing him out on someone else. You were easy to blame because you were with him that night." Clary felt a lump start to form in her throat and tears burn at the back of her eyes, but held it in. "I'm sorry for blaming you when it wasn't your fault, when there was nothing you could have done."

"But there was. I could have stopped him from driving, I knew he was drunk and I still let him drive." Jace spoke as he turned to face her, and again she was met with the vulnerable, unguarded Jace from the soccer field.

"No, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known." Without thinking, she took his hand in hers like she used to when they were kids, when they had tripped over and scrapped their knees on the pavement. "Jace, I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm sorry for blaming you and treating so horribly. Jonathan wouldn't be proud of me."

Clary then let the tears spill freely and the lump in her throat turn into a sob as Jace embraced her, soothingly rubbing her back and whispering reassurances in her ear. Just as Jonathan would have done.

 _ **AN: Please give me feedback and thoughts in a review, would love to hear from you! :)**_


	7. Chapter 6 - Party On

**CLARY POV:**

Clary hadn't talked to Jace since the night in the tree house and since then it was almost as if he was a new person. He smiled at her in the hallways, not his signature smug smirk but a softer one that made Clary smile back. They were _civil_ to each other in class and he didn't direct any smart-ass comments her way.

He was Jace, but he wasn't. It was like Clary was seeing him in a new light. It was like they were strangers… But they weren't.

Clary truly was sorry for the way she had treated Jace over the two years after Jonathan's death; she had been selfish. So incredibly selfish. She would make things right between her and Jace again. She owed him, and herself that much.

"Keep still Clary!" Izzy repeated as she continued to poke at her eye with a black pencil.

"But you're hurting me!"

Clary sat at Izzy's impressive makeup table in her purple-walled bedroom. The Victorian style vanity was laden with creams, powders, mascaras, eye shadows, pencils, lipsticks and millions of different brushes Clary wouldn't begin to know the difference between.

"Pain is the price of beauty, my dear." Magnus purred, lying stretched out on Izzy's bed flicking through some fashion magazine.

"Now put the dress on." Izzy commanded and handed her the shimmering green dress Izzy and Magnus had picked out for her. Clary shamelessly striped down to her underwear and shimmied into the dress.

"Wow," Clary wheezed, "this is _a lot_ tighter than I remember it being."

Magnus smiled, a mischievous glint in his Cheshire cat eyes. "I made a few adjustments."

"Um, I don't think I can pull this off, Iz. It's a bit short at the front. And tight allover…" Clary self-consciously looked down at herself and pulled at the inflexible fabric.

"Exactly," a small smile played on her lips as she brought out her gold-bordered full-length mirror.

Clary glanced at her reflection and had to do a double take. She knew Izzy was talented, but she had practically transformed Clary into her alter ego.

Her childlike face had been concealed of most of its freckles; only stubborn scatterings were visible, making her complexion appear clear and silky smooth. Defining black wings elegantly outlined Clary's eyes and made her irises look even greener than usual. Smoky eyelids shimmered as she blinked. The dress wrapped around Clary; its tight fabric hugged her body and defined features she didn't realize she had. It was a high-low dress; sneaking up past mid-thigh at the front and cascading down the back of her legs like a shimmering, emerald waterfall. Spaghetti straps held the dress up and crossed in an intricate pattern down her exposed, porcelain back. Clary's usual untamable curls had been straightened so the golden strands fell neatly over her shoulders and almost reached her waistline.

"One more thing." Izzy handed her a pair of frighteningly tall, black heels.

* * *

They picked Tessa up on the way to Sebastian's party and Clary had been impressed when she saw her in a modest, yet pretty purple mini dress with ballet flats and her brown hair down for once. _Go Tessa!_

They heard the party before they saw it, and followed the sound of pop music and crazed teens, to the door of Sebastian's huge manor. Sebastian saw them approaching and greeted them at the door.

"Glad you could make it." He smiled and eyed Clary up and down approvingly as she self-consciously pulled at her dress. "Can I get you guys some drinks?"

"THAT WOULD BE GREAT." Izzy replied over the noise of the party as he led them through the house. Clary sat down and rubbed at her feet that were already beginning to blister in the heels. She was impressed at how Izzy managed to wear heels almost everyday.

Tessa perked up suddenly and Clary glanced at where she was gazing. Will Herondale. "Could you be anymore obvious?" She joked and smiled at Tessa who had gone beetroot red.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said defiantly.

"Sure you don't."

"Drink up." A red cup filled with a mysterious brown beverage landed in her hand. "Clary," Sebastian addressed her, "come find me later for a dance." With a wink, he left and rejoined his clan of drunken friends.

"What even is this?" Tessa asked taking a tentative sip from her cup.

"Ohhhhh, I would love to see a drunk Tessa!" Magnas exclaimed, clapping his ring-clad fingers together with a jingle.

"Tessa's drunk?" Will appeared with the rest of Jace's gang and both Tessa and Magnas straightened up: Magnas eyed up Alec and Tessa gazed shyly at Will. Her two friends were polar opposites.

"Not yet," Magnas smirked, "although she's too much of a goody-too-shoes to drink."

With a glare, Tessa skulled the contents of the cup and slammed it on the table in front of them, earning her an amused but approving look from Will.

Clary turned her attention to Jace; he was dressed in light denim chinos and a maroon collared shirt. He had combed his blond locks to the side in an attempt to tame his lion's mane, but stray curls hung defiantly over his golden face. Clary was startled to find Jace's maple syrup eyes were openly staring at her in a stunned silence. No smug smirk and no harsh amusement, instead his features were soft and his voice unguarded when he spoke: "You look, um, nice, Clary." Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for a smart remark to follow but it never came.

"Thank you, Jace" Clary replied timidly. _What was happening?_

A few drinks later, Clary started to loosen up and actually enjoy herself, she felt light and bubbly and wobbled dangerously on her heels as someone led her to the dance floor. J-Lo was pounding through the speakers and Clary tipped her head back, drinking in the party and swaying her hips to the beat.

Izzy had left to chat up some guy and Magnas had disappeared with Alec, leaving her and Tessa. Tessa also looked lighter and happy, Clary thought, but she kept glancing in Will's direction.

"Go talk to him!" Clary giggled in Tessa's ear as she pushed her in Will's direction.

"No! What if I say something stupid?" Tessa cried before bending down to whisper in Clary's ear: "I think I've had a bit too much to drink!"

"You'll be fineeeee. I'll come with you." Clary slurred and led Tessa through the sea of teenagers.

"Hey," Will smiled at them and initiated a conversation. Clary couldn't take it. "You like her, she likes you, so why don't you just kiss already!" Clary huffed and walked off. That was the right thing to do, right? The room spun around her and she bumped into a wall. A golden wall with a mop of blond hair that looked at her in confusion.

"Clary? Are you alright?" The Jace-wall spoke. HAHAHA, Jace-wall.

"Why are you laughing, Clary?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you look like a lion?"

"What?"

"A pretty, golden lion."

"You're drunk."

"No, you'reeeee drunk!"

"Come dance with me, Jacey!" Clary cried, a pout on her painted lips as she took his hand and dragged him to the middle of the dance floor. Clary tipped her head back and felt her sweaty hair tickle her butt through the thin fabric of her dress as she chucked her arms above her head and swayed her hips to music. Jace just stood there watching her. "Dance, lion boy!" Clary cried and shimmied closer to him, tilting her head to look up at him.

"Clary!" A voice spoke in her ear, "how about that dance you promised?" Sebastian appeared at her side, his hand moving to the small of her back as he took her from Jace, in exchange for some blonde in a neon playsuit. HA! Kaelie wouldn't like that! _Where was Kaelie anyway?_

"Are you liking the party?" Sebastian whispered huskily in her ear, his breath tickled and goose bumps appeared on her sweaty, porcelain skin. "Oh, yeah. It's funnnnn." Clary slurred as he pulled her closer. He was really pretty, Clary thought as she stared into his dark eyes, framed with long spidery lashes, his slick black hair and smooth lines.

Sebastian pulled Clary in closer as they danced, so close she could feel the muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt. His eyes roamed freely over her body, and his hands slid lazily over her. The hand on the small of her back suddenly slid south to rest on the thin fabric that covered her butt. Clary gasped and jerked away from Sebastian and Jace suddenly appeared beside her.

"I think I'll take you home, Clary." The Lion/wall said and that was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

* * *

Clary awoke to light streaming through the gaps in her curtains and the birds outside creating a racket that pounded her head. _Why was her head so sore?_ Clary glanced down to find she was still in her emerald dress from the party. _Oh, the party._

Her heart sunk as fragments from the previous night came back to her in flashes. Red cups. Dancing. _A lot_ of dancing. Jace. Sebastian. Clary cringed deeply and peeled off her sheets, slowly making her way to the shower. She smelt bad, a mix of booze and sweat.

When Clary emerged from the shower twenty minutes later, fresh and dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, she found Izzy sitting on her bed.

"I couldn't find you and Jace said he took you home." Izzy said. "I'm so sorry Clary, I should have been there for you."

"Jace took me home?"

"Yeah. He doesn't drink at parties anymore." _Not after Jonathon._

"Do you know what happened to Tessa?"

"Tessa?" And then Clary remembered in horror as she sat down next to Izzy. "Oh no. I'm a horrible friend."

* * *

 **TESSA POV:**

 _My. Life. Is. Over._ Tessa was burrowed in her bed and had no intention of coming out. Ever.

Tessa had had a bit too much to drink at the party, but she hadn't been as drunk as Clary. Tessa remembered everything. She remembered Clary telling Will she liked him, she remembered how her blood had frozen and mouth moved like a fish, but didn't form any words. Tessa remembered the look of confusion that had crossed Will's beautiful face and she remembered running. Tessa had run away from the boy she liked, like a coward. When she arrived home, she found her hair was knotted in a wild mess. She also had blood dripping down her leg from her grazed her knee, having tripped over a passed out body outside Sebastian's manor.

School was tomorrow, and even worse, Romeo and Juliet rehearsals. How awkward was it going to be? Was he weird-ed out? What did he think of her now?

There was no way he could possibly like her back. How could someone like Will Herondale possibly like _her_? He was perfect and beautiful and funny and someone you would only read about in books. And she was just Tessa, there was nothing particularly special about her.

Tessa checked her phone: she had no notifications. She took the silence as an answer.

"I'm so sorry Tessa." Clary repeated for the billionth time that day.

"It's okay, just tell me what I should do about it."

"Either talk to him about it or act like it didn't happen?" Clary suggested.

"There's no way I'm talking to him about it, can you imagine how awkward it would be?"

"I could talk to him for you if you want?" Clary offered.

"And what would you say?"

The bell went and Clary sent her an apologetic look before they parted ways.

Once again Tessa was left alone as she made her way to Romeo and Juliet rehearsals. _Just act like nothing happened. Act casual._ Tessa could totally do that; she could act casual.

Tessa walked into the auditorium and there he was, sitting _casually_ with a group of people, laughing at a joke. Will then spotted her and Tessa quickly looked away, walking right past him to pick up a copy of her script from Mr. Starkweather. She found a seat in the opposite corner of the room and started reading, _casually._

Tessa didn't look up from her script, not once, until Mr. Starkweather called her and Romeo to read a scene.

 _Act casual. You're as cool as a cucumber._ Tessa repeated to herself as she made her way onstage to stand beside Will. No, not Will, _Romeo._ She could feel him looking at her, so she gave him a _casual_ and _cool_ sideways glance. She met his eyes but like usual, they were unreadable.

"From the top of the page." Starkweather croaked. And they read their lines, casually. Like nothing had happened.

When Starkweather dismissed them, Will turned to face her.

"I'm sorry," Tessa blurted out. "For the other night, I mean." She couldn't meet his gaze.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." He smiled. Wait, _what? What was that supposed to mean?_ They continued a polite, _casual,_ conversation but after they said their goodbyes, Tessa was left more confused than ever.


	8. Chapter 7 - Sunday

**TESSA POV:**

"Tessa! There's someone at the door for you!" Her mother called from the bottom of the stairs.

It was a Sunday morning. 10: 01 to be exact. Tessa put down the book she was in the middle of. Sighing, she slipped on her Japanese robe and slippers before making her way downstairs.

Sunday morning was a time Tessa dedicated entirely to herself: no homework, no stress and no drama. Until the afternoon at least. The morning consisted of a nice sleep in; Sunday's were the only day Tessa had nothing to wake up early for. When she was awake enough, Tessa would lose for self in a book for a decent hour. After that, Tessa would grab her yoga mat and if the weather was nice, she would find a little spot in the back garden; otherwise she would make do by clearing room by the window. After Tessa's yoga session, she would soak in the bath with candles and aromatherapy, soothing herself, her muscles and mind. To top that off, Tessa would usually have a brunch of pancakes with sticky maple syrup and sweet tea.

Everyone knew Tessa's Sunday Schedule and Tessa was annoyed that the "someone at the door" had interrupted it.

"Morning, Tess." Tessa's heart summersaulted. Only one person called her Tess.

Will stood by the door, one hand casually tucked in his pocket, the other holding a pair of black high-top converse that he had taken off his feet. He grinned from ear to ear when he saw her. _Will Herondale was at her door?!_ Tessa's heart erupted and she leant against the nearest wall to steady herself.

She blushed. "Hello, Will. Why are you here?"

"Romeo and Juliet acquaintance of course. Clary said you'd be here."

"Okay, want to come up to my bedroom?" Tessa asked nervously.

"Usually I'd take a girl out first." Will smirked and pushed past Tessa taking the stairs two at a time.

"I like your room, Tess. Ah your books!" Will cried delightedly as Tessa shut the door behind her. What about her Sunday routine? She couldn't _not_ do it! That just wouldn't be right.

Will must have picked up on her silence; "Is something wrong, Tess?" He asked softly as he raised a perfectly arched, dark eyebrow.

"You see, today is Sunday."

"That is correct" Will quirked. "Unless you're on the other side of the international date line."

"You don't understand. I have a Sunday routine and now, I can't do it."

Will laughed. "By all means, don't let me stop you."

So Tessa took off her robe and slippers and climbed back into bed, her body sinking into its place and the sky blue comforter closing the cocoon around her. She opened _"Great Expectations_ " and casually flicked to her page.

Tessa looked up some time later to find Will lounging in her desk chair, his feet on her desk with a book in hand. Tessa eyed the cover and was amused to notice he was reading _The Notebook_.

Tessa checked the clock, surprised to find almost an hour had past and was about to inform Will it was yoga time, before she stopped herself and took in the situation: Will Herondale, her long time crush, was reading in her bedroom. His brow was furrowed in concentration and lively blue eyes framed by dark, long lashes scanned the text thoughtfully.

He looked up then and smiled at Tessa, his blue eyes meeting her storm gray. "Now what?"

"Yoga."

"This should be fun."

* * *

Will offered to drive them to the park to do their yoga, so Tessa found herself in the front seat of Will's car, windows down and singing to Taylor Swift on full volume. When they stopped at the traffic lights, the lady in the lane next to theirs gave them a funny look when Will attempted the " _my ex-man"_ verse in _"Shake it Off"._ Tessa couldn't help it, she laughed and laughed until her stomach ached.

Tessa was disappointed when their car trip ended. They grabbed the yoga mats and hopped out. Will led her to a spot in Alicante Park that Tessa had never been to; it was a place you wouldn't know was there unless you knew about it. People wandered around in their own world, filling the open space of the park. Bright yellow rays filtered through the branches of the droopy willow tree that obscured them from the view of passerby's.

Tessa laid out the yoga mats in front of them. "Have you ever actually, like, _done_ yoga before?" She asked curiously as she sat crossed legged on her grey mat (she gave Will the hot pink one) and scrolled through the yoga classes on her IPod.

"All the time when I lived in the Bali treetops for a year." Will replied, his turquoise eyes twinkling under a ray of sunlight shooting through the willow's branches.

"Really?"

"No, I just made that up." He smiled goofily and sat down on his pink mat.

"Are you going to take this seriously?"

"Are you doubting my natural yoga abilities?" Will feigned shock.

Tessa selected an intermediate class; she wasn't going to make this easy for him, but she wasn't going to be mean by choosing advanced.

Will was a lot better at yoga than Tessa had thought he would be and had helped her hold her elbow stand until she felt all the blood rush out of her head and realize he had let go and she was still holding it.

"Can I choose one?" He asked when the yoga session had finished. She handed over her IPod, her warm hand brushing his and she was suddenly reminded of when their fingers almost brushed only weeks before.

He scrolled through the tracks, a mischievous glint in his eyes. The calming music started playing and a voice spoke: _"Sit in a confortable position and close your eyes."_ Meditation. So she closed her eyes, smiling like an idiot.

"I bet you won't keep your eyes closed the whole time." Tessa whispered.

"Well, you will only know if you open yours." Will whispered, a challenge laced in his voice.

" _Free your mind and grow your light-"_

Will snickered. "Shhhh!" Tessa jokingly scowled.

"Sorry," he whispered and Tessa peaked one eye open a fraction to see he had his eyes closed. She smiled to herself; Will Herondale was meditating.

" _Let your body relax. Feel your muscles loosen from the top of your head, to the tip of your toes. Embrace the sounds of nature around you."_

Tessa let herself relax, the rustling of the willow branches in the light Alicante breeze and the sweet calls of local birds being the only sounds, all background traffic noise muted from her senses.

" _Take a deep, calming breath in through your nose, now hold it. And slowly, release."_

She breathed in crisp, unpolluted air, filling her lungs as her chest expanded and slowly contacted as she breathed out.

" _Now, mentally, take yourself to your ideal place of relaxation."_

Wisps of hair had escaped her bun and were floating around her in the cool Alicante breeze, but she barely noticed. The sun must have shown itself from behind a cloud as her body was bathed in sunlight, the warmth hitting the top of her head and seeping through her pores, making her feel alive and free. Tessa took herself to her ideal place of relaxation: a big room with bookshelves covering every wall and ladders that moved along the shelves on wheels. There was a warm fire and a comfortable window seat overlooking a view of the sea, as blue as Will's eyes.

 **WILL POV:**

Daringly, Will peeked his eyes open a fraction and then all the way when he was satisfied Tessa wasn't going to catch him. And then he saw Tessa. He really saw her.

She was sitting cross-legged on the grey yoga mat, her small hands resting atop her thighs, palms facing skyward and fingers naturally curling. She was sitting upright, her back in perfect posture, like energy was streaming from the top of her head up into the heavens above. Tessa's chest was rising and falling at a rhythmic pace, her purple tank top expanding and compressing as the bronze angel necklace at the hallow of her throat matched the rise and fall of breath. A strap of her tank top had slid off her shoulder, exposing the creamy skin of her collarbone.

Stubborn strands of russet hair were loose, broken free from the elastic and floated around her in a dance. Sunlight beamed upon her and brought out the honey and coffee tones in her hair.

Tessa's face was relaxed; her usual anxious expression smoothened out and a pink flush bloomed on her cheeks. For some reason, Will ached to trace the lines of her face, run his finger down the bridge of her nose and along her cheekbones, along the small scattering of freckles that weren't noticeable unless you close enough to see them. Her lips were slightly parted, her eyelids softly fluttering.

She was the angel that glinted at her throat. She was achingly and infinitely beautiful.

 **TESSA POV:**

The meditation track finished and she opened her eyes to find Will was rolling up his mat. Had he had enough of her? Was he bored? Did he think she was weird?

"Now what?" She whispered and rolled her own mat up.

"You tell me, it's your routine." Will whispered back and turned around to face her, a lopsided smile lighting up his features.

"Um, well, usually I bathe."

Will crossed the space between them so they were merely inches apart, so close Tessa was surprised to notice flecks of gold in the blue of his irises. She felt his breath puff out around them and he suddenly stooped down and quite literally swept Tessa off her feet.

"Will!" She cried, whacking him with the yoga mat she was still carrying. She however was secretly thrilled to notice that Will Herondale was carrying her bride-style.

"WILL!" Tessa laughed as he started walking, "put me down!"

"As you wish." And he threw her in the duck pond.

The coldness shocked Tessa as she plunged through the filthy water. She broke the surface, startling a group of nearby ducks, and swam furiously to the bank where Will waited with a helping hand. He was hysterically laughing, almost doubled over as Tessa reached for his hand with a murderous expression. She pulled him down with her.

Will realized what was happening just as it was too late and he fell head first into the duck pond. It was Tessa's turn to burst into hysterical laughter as he violently thrashed around in panic. When he broke the surface, horror filled his face.

"DUCKS!" And Tessa remembered what he had told her in the bookshop over Chinese: _"Never trust a duck."_

Tessa erupted into a fit of giggles as he swam to the bank and shot out the water like he was being chased. This time Will didn't give her a helping hand and was standing in shock, a haunted expression ghosting his face.

"How could you do that to me, Tessa. I thought were friends!"

Tessa wasn't sure if he was joking or not. "Well you did it first."

"That is true." Will broke into a smile. His thin white t-shirt was stuck flush to his body, outlining the muscles of his abdomen. Water dripped from raven curls that had been flattened, but he raked his hands through them and they stuck up in all directions. _God he was cute._ Tessa blushed and looked away so he wouldn't catch her staring.

"Now what?"

Will led Tessa back to his car and found a flannel of his in the backseat, which he handed to her and she gratefully accepted. She wrapped it around herself like a cocoon. It smelt like vanilla and orange. It smelt like _him._

A while later, Tessa found herself sitting in a booth opposite Will at the pancake house on the main street of Alicante.

"Ohmygodthisissogooooood." Will moaned between mouthfuls of pancake. Tessa had to agree as she shoveled another forkful of fluffy pancake drenched in sticky maple syrup into her mouth. "The best."

He looked up at her through his dark, wet curls and Tessa blurted out what had been in the back of her mind all morning: "Why are you here, Will?"

"To eat pancakes."

"No, I mean why are you here with _me?_ "

"Because you're pretty cool, Tess." Will smiled sheepishly, pouring more maple syrup over his remaining bit of pancake. _Will thought she was cool?_

"I don't think anyone's ever described me as _cool_ before," Tessa laughed, "I don't go to parties and wear stylish clothes; I'm not popular or particularly pretty. I read books and do weird stuff like meditate."

Will lowered his forkful of pancake and his turquoise eyes met hers softly. "Oh, my Tessa. What's much more attractive in a person is their _them-ness_. And dear God Tessa, you don't see the way guys look at you, the way _I_ look at you." Will suddenly averted his gaze as if realizing what he had just said.

Tessa's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she stared at him. _How did he look at her? Was that a good thing?_ Self-consciously she tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ears.

He met her gaze again. "You're right, you're not cool. Cool is over-rated, you're rad."

Despite everything that was swarming though her mind, heart and veins, Tessa laughed.

"I'm rad." She repeated and burst out laughing again.

It wasn't until he had dropped her home that Tessa realize she was still enveloped in vanilla and orange. Tessa was still wearing Will's jacket and she also realized that she had no intention of giving it back.

 ** _AN: Just a little but cute chapter :) would love to hear thoughts._**


	9. Chapter 8 - The Crash

_**AUTHORS NOTE: Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing, it honestly makes my day to know people are enjoying or even reading my fanfic! Would also be interested to hear suggestions or predictions... Anyway, enjoy reading fellow fangirls/boys :)**_

 **CLARY POV:**

"Mum? Are you okay?" Clary asked, slightly alarmed. She had returned from her shift at Luke's bookstore to find Jocelyn sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of wine and an empty bottle in front of her. She was staring blankly at the wall in front of her, which was decorated in a large portrait Jocelyn had painted the year Jonathan had died. It was of the three of them; Clary, Jonathan and Jocelyn. Jocelyn had skillfully captured each of their personalities onto the canvas so their souls seemed to shine through their trademark green eyes. After Jonathan had died, they had taken down the painting because every time Jocelyn had seen the painting-Jonathan smiling down at them, she had burst into tears. Like a dam breaking down again and again. Clary understood, it was a reminder that those familiar green eyes would never look at them again and they would never see that signature smile crack his face one last time.

"Hmm?" Jocelyn stirred as if just realizing Clary was there. "Oh, yes. There's stir-fry on the stove if you're hungry, sweetie."

"Thanks, Mum," Clary called over her shoulder as she wondered into the kitchen, dropped her keys and poured a glass of water.

When Clary returned to the living room, she found that Jocelyn was no longer sitting at the table, but asleep curled up on the couch. Clary carefully draped a blanket over her small, frail body and tiptoed up stairs with her dinner in hand and bag slung over her shoulder.

Clary changed into her most comfortable pajamas and climbed into bed, opening her laptop onto Netflix. It was a Friday night and nothing sounded better than binge watching an entire season in bed. It was the perfect end to a long, tiring week. Her eyelids were growing heavy and sleep was drawing her into its open arms when a violent crashing sounded. A wailing siren cut through the peaceful night like a knife, momentarily startling Clary as she jumped and her laptop toppled over. It was probably just cops chasing down some idiot boy racers. With that thought in mind, Clary let her eyes close again, shutting out the wailing of sirens that seemed to be drawing nearer…

Clary awoke to rain pounding on the aluminum roof and grabbed her phone from her nightstand. It was blowing up with notifications; Clary had multiple missed calls and the group chat was buzzing. Confused, Clary unlocked her phone and clicked on the group chat, scanning through the most recent messages.

 **Maia: Where is Clary at?**

 **Tessa: Probably still asleep.**

 **Maia: Is there anything we can do Iz? Jordan and I are sending our love xxx**

 **Izzy: Thanks guys, I'll let you know how they are when I get updates. Alec is still unconscious.**

Very confused, Clary quickly typed: **What is going on? Why is Alec unconscious?**

Clary clambered out of bed, yawned, and pulled across her curtains. Her phone buzzed with a notification at the same time she saw it. Rain was pouring down the window like fat tears, but beyond that, further down the street, Clary could see where a car had crashed into a telephone box and lay in a crumpled heap. A mess of broken glass from the both the phone box and the car littered the street, police tape encircling the damage.

Clary looked down at her phone:

 **Izzy: There was a crash. Alec and Sebastian were in the car.**

* * *

They weren't accepting visitors until the afternoon, so at three o'clock, Simon picked Clary up along with Magnus who insisted on seeing Alec. Izzy was waiting for them outside of Alicante hospital and Clary wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug, not letting go of her as she led them through the hospital corridors to the waiting room. Jace was slouched in an uncomfortable looking armchair, his eyes glazed over, zombie-like. Clary noticed he was still in the clothes he wore to school the previous day.

"Robert and Mayrse are seeing him now." Jace spoke, not meeting any of their eyes. "He's had a concussion and needed stitches but he's okay." Izzy smiled weakly and Clary squeezed her hand. She couldn't help but think how familiar this situation was.

"Do they know what happened? Was it anyone's fault?" Clary spoke and Jace finally met her eyes.

"Sebastian was driving Alec home but they crashed into a telephone box. The passenger side where Alec was sitting got the most impact-" He got cut off as Robert and Mayrse returned, smiling softly at them but eyeing Magnus suspiciously.

"Hello Clary, good to see you." Mayrse said tersely as her and Robert sat down beside Jace. "You can see Alec if you want, he's down the corridor, second to the left," she said, pointing where they came from.

"Thank you," Clary said, her gaze flicking back to Jace who was still looking at her, before the four of them trooped down the corridor to Alec.

He was sitting propped up in bed; his head partly bandaged and face drained of colour, making his Lightwood ink black hair and blue eyes stand out startlingly.

"Hey Alec," Izzy rushed over to him and started carefully and affectionately smoothing his hair. Magnas stood unsurely in the doorway but Alec smiled sheepishly at him and Magnas came to stand at the end of the bed beside Clary and Simon.

"How are you feeling, Ally." Izzy whispered and fluffed up his pillows.

"I'm alright, bit of a sore head but they put me on some drugs so I'm fine." He attempted to crack a smile, but it must have hurt because it turned into a grimace. "It's okay, Izzy. Izzy, I'm fine." He reassured her as she continued to make a fuss but eventually resigned and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How long are you staying here?" Clary asked. His gaze flicked to her, piercing Clary with the startling blueness of them. Through them, she could see a slight shock; shock that she cared. Clary had grown up with Alec, he was like a brother to her in a way. How could she not care?

"They want me to stay for a couple more so the doctors can keep an eye on my head and give me more drugs. I'll be in bed for a few days at home though".

"At least you'll miss that calculus test." Simon said lightheartedly and Clary affectionately looped arms with him, instantly feeling warmth through his gamer's sweater and a familiar comfort that put Clary at ease.

After a while the doctor came in and asked them to leave. They said goodbye to the Lightwoods and Jace, except for Izzy who was staying with the group. They sprinted to the car under pulled-up hoods doing little to shelter them from the monstrous downpour, and pilled into Simon's van. Clary called shotgun and powered up the car heater.

"Anyone keen for Taki's?". After a chorus of agreement, they texted Tessa, Maia and Jordan to meet them for a group feast. Half an hour later, the table was full of its usual suspects and the newcomers were being filled in on the situation at the hospital. Clary was only half listening, but looked up briefly when Tessa walked in with Jem.

"Hey," Tessa smiled softly, a slight blush coloring her cheeks as everyone glanced at Jem, giving Tessa raised eyebrows.

"I invited Jem to join us." Tessa said, stating the obvious. She tucked her hair behind her ears – something Clary had noticed was her nervous habit - and slid into one of the remaining seats opposite Clary.

"Hey, everyone." Jem said warmly and sat down beside Tessa. Clary noticed the waitress at the table beside theirs admiring him with a glint in her amber coloured eyes. She smoothed down her long, strawberry blonde hair before approaching their table.

"What could I get you guys?" She purred, still looking at Jem. He had been mid conversation with Tessa, but smiled warmly at the waitresses, oblivious to her keen eye.

"I'll get an orange juice thanks,"

"Make that two," Tessa added and the rest of the table placed their orders.

Clary couldn't stop thinking about they way Jace had looked at the hospital. It had been full of worry, concern, tiredness, and something that made him a lot more _human_. It was foreign to see Jace like that, but lately nothing was, as it seemed. In fact, everything seemed different, a bit off. Alicante was usually a peaceful, suburban town that had a consistency to it that satisfied Clary.

"And she'll have the Oreo pancakes with a large coffee with a butterscotch shot." Clary blinked as she heard Simon recite her usual order and watched the amber-eyed waitress turn on her heel after scribbling down their orders.

A while later, her coffee got placed in front of her and Clary watched as steam tendrils rose from the blue ceramic mug, dancing in swirls that disappeared moments later. Something about this comforted Clary and she wrapped her hands around the mug, slowly lifting it to her. The welcoming warmth seeped through her hands and she parted her lips to the comforting taste of bittersweet butterscotch. Minutes later, the caffeine was running through Clary's veins and the world was starting to come into focus, become less fragmented. The amber-eyed waitress returned and laid plates and bowls of food that created a beautiful, chaotic aroma. Clary nibbled at her Oreo pancakes and tuned into the conversation.

"Mr. Starkweather called Jem and asked him to learn Will's lines, be his understudy just in case Will isn't up to it." Tessa was saying to the table and smiled at Jem who smiled back at her.

"Will would never miss a chance to be under the spotlight," Jem laughed, "I'm more filling in for when he's away."

"Where's he going?" Maia asked from the other end of the table where she and Jordan were sharing cheesy nachos.

"He's… Got some family stuff to deal with." Jem said. The table nodded, no one enquired any further.

It had set in more outside; the world was a murky grey and it had begun to hail on the roof of the diner. No one felt like braving the storm, so they ordered a round of warm beverages. Another butterscotch coffee sat in front of Clary and the wind whistled against the windowpanes, like the persistent cry of evil straining to get in.

* * *

The storm had died down the next morning, but had left damage in its wake. Tree branches littered gardens and streets, and drains were clogged, leaving big puddles everywhere. Clary spent too long in the shower, dressed in black jeans and a cream cassimere sweater, and then ran down stairs with her bag in tow. She grabbed her flask, tied her green converse and wrapped one of Jocelyn's scarves around her shoulders before she noticed she had a text from Jace.

 **Would I be able to catch a ride? Mayrse took my car to the hospital this morning and Izzy's went with her.**

Surprised, Clary quickly thumbed a response as she took a piece of toast from Luke. A few minutes later she was out the door and in Simon's van, watching Jace emerge from the Lightwoods. Dressed in his usual black attire, he saw them waiting and jogged down Mayrse's well-kept garden path, flowers dropping unhappily from the weather. Clary quieted Simon's protests and disbelief before Jace got in the van.

"Morning." Clary tried for a halfway cheerful tone.

"Morning," Jace replied as Simon backed out of the driveway, still shaking his head slightly.

The ride was filled with small talk, but it wasn't too awkward. Clary asked about Alec and Izzy, they talked about the calculus test and the storm, until the pulled through the school gates. Jace was trailing after her and Simon on their way to their courtyard when she sensed him abruptly stop and she turned around. Jace had spotted Sebastian from across the corridor and had tensed. His hands formed tight fists at his sides as Sebastian casually sauntered over. Clary noticed he had a few stiches on his jawline, but apart from that he appeared unharmed from the crash.

"Sup, man," Sebastian nodded to Jace in greeting. His smile faltered as he noticed Jace's expression.

"What's up, bro?" Sebastian persisted, playfully punching Jace's arm in that way boys do. But Jace just stared at him in a stony silence that lasted a moment too long.

Suddenly, Jace swung and his fist connected squarely with Sebastian's jaw.

"Oops, my bad," Jace said through clenched teeth.

Sebastian let out a startled cry. Then, his surprise quickly turned into anger. People had noticed the action and started to gather around them to form a curious crowd. The two most popular boys at Alicante High, fighting off - it was an occasion not to be missed.

"What the hell was that for, dude?" Sebastian growled passive aggressively, wiping a trail of blood from where Jace's family ring had punctured his skin. The crowd had formed a larger swarm; phones were recording and an excited mummer swept through the corridor. Clary and Simon stood frozen at the edge of the mass, which encircled Jace and Sebastian in a ring.

"That's for driving drunk, you bloody idiot." Jace spat at him, pure hatred flashing his features and turning him cold. Clary was suddenly hit with shocking understanding.

Jonathan.

Why Jace didn't drink, why he barely ever drove, why he would be so pissed at Sebastian for driving drunk when that had been Jonathan's fate.

"It's not like anyone _died_." Sebastian said, oblivious and Clary gasped knowing it wasn't going to end well. And Clary was right; that was it. Jace threw himself at Sebastian, full force, and the crowd went crazy. Phones were extended high above heads to get a good view of the fight as Sebastian got to his senses and started fighting back. Clary pushed her way through the frenzied crowd that were now egging on their favourite boy. She ran up to them, pulled at Jace's thin black T-shirt and screamed for them to stop.

"Get out of this Clary!" Jace hissed, narrowly missing a round of punches. Suddenly Clary felt a white hot pain as a fist connected with her outstretched hand.

Jace's face flared with a sudden animalistic fiery range and he kicked Sebastian with such a force, it knocked him off his feet and sent him flying against the wall of the corridor. He crumpled to the ground with a sickening thud.

" _Don't you ever touch her again_." Jace seethed, spitting a mouth full of blood at Sebastian's feet. An image suddenly flashed through Clary's mind of Sebastian's hands over her at the party. She shuddered and pushed back the memory.

Jace didn't look at her as he abruptly turned away and pushed through the crowd, who had began chanting his name, the sound bouncing off the corridor walls and making Clary feel horribly enclosed and trapped. Clary made to follow him, but Simon grabbed her and held her in the safety of his comforting, familiar arms. She didn't protest and she also didn't try to stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks as she cradled her injured hand.

 _ **AUTHORS NOTE: Review/fave/follow please!**_


	10. Chapter 9 - Angels

_**AUTHORS NOTE: Hey guys, Ya Typical Fangirl here! Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing :)**_

 **TESSA POV:**

Tessa hadn't seen Will in almost a week. He had sent her a brief text saying he was leaving Alicante for a while, but aside from that, Tessa hadn't heard from him.

She realized, that she had begun to get used to Will's presence; whether it was Romeo and Juliet rehearsals, class periods they shared or when he would stop at Luke's bookstore while she was working. But now that he was away, supposedly with his family, Tessa was left feeling almost hallow. Whether she liked to admit it or not, she missed him. The way she caught him grinning when he thought no one was watching. When someone said something that amused him and he tipped his head back, his Adams apple bobbing as he let out a boyish laughter. The way his blue eyes would change colour, from the sky on a fine day, to a deep obsidian blue that you could drown in. God, she even missed his annoying little comments and the way he teased her.

One good thing that had come out of the week's events, however, was that Tessa had gotten to know Jem a lot better. Jem was the type of person who was likeable and easy to get along with, which was just as well considering he was the Romeo to her Juliet until Will returned. It was a fine Saturday morning and Tessa was giving Jem a tour of Alicante, showing him all the landmarks and things to do and see within the town. She felt like it would be the sort of thing he would do, if she were the new girl arriving in his city.

They had met at Luke's bookstore after her shift and Tess had walked him though the line of shops, that is, until Jem spotted the music store. "I play the violin," he said, and Tessa could tell by the look in his eyes that that was an understatement. They entered the shop; a little bell signaling their arrival and the boy behind the counter, who Tessa recognized from school to be Gabriel _,_ looked up from his magazine. Jem gazed about the shop with his features alight in happiness. He wondered over, in a half daze, to the stringed instruments and with the permission of Gabriel, picked up the violin on display with the utmost delicate hands. Jem carefully handled the instrument as if it was a baby, cradling its body and stroking its neck in admiration.

"You can play it if you want," Gabriel said to Jem. So Jem picked up the bow and placed the violin to him.

Tessa was expecting him to be good, but the sound that issued from the instrument blew her away. With the utmost skill, Jem let the bow slide softly across the strings and it was both so, so utterly beautiful but also haunting and mellow. The sound was filled with emotion Tessa didn't even know how to describe, but it bubbled up within her and caused a smile to break out on her face. Jem had his eyes pressed lightly closed and his eyelids fluttered slightly. Fine strands of silver fell across his forehead, which was tilted over the instrument in concentration. Jem's mouth was slightly open, his bow lips allowing the light filtering through the music shop windows to define the soft curves and angels of his face, bathing him in a glowing light like an angel.

The tune drew a singular haunting note that softly faded out, leaving the room in silence that seemed so ugly, missing the beautiful sound that filled it moments before. Gabriel commended Jem's playing and they struck up a conversation that ended with Jem leaving with a job at the music store, starting Monday.

Back on the street, Tessa pointed out a red roofed shop across the street. "And that's where you get the best ice-cream in the whole world!"

"Let's test you theory then, shall we?" Jem said with a warm smile and offered her his arm. Tessa opened her mouth to say that it was a rather chilly day, too cold to eat ice cream, but before she knew it Tessa was being pulled across the road. She let out a small squeal as she stood straight in a large puddle that splashed up her jeaned leg and filled her Doc Martin boot with street water. Jem laughed and although she usually couldn't stand getting wet, she laughed too and led Jem through the door to the ice-cream shop.

A pretty blond girl sat behind the counter and didn't look up from filing her long, manicured nails as they entered.

"Jessamine?" Jem gawked. "What are you doing here?"

"Jem," the girl at the counter said, paused mid nail stroke and looking equally surprised. Then she perked up at his question; "Oh, I'm staying in Alicante with my boyfriend, Nate." It was Tessa's turn to be startled.

" _Nate_? As in my _brother_ , Nate Gray?" She goggled.

"I suppose you must be Tessa, then." Jessamine said and eyed her up and down. Tessa self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears.

"So what can I get you," Jessamine asked sounding bored and grudgingly grabbed an ice cream scoop from the bucket beside her.

Tessa glanced to Jem to find he was already looking at her. "Ladies first," he said, smiling. "And I'm paying."

Tessa began to protest but Jessamine cut her off with an impatient look, "I don't have all day."

And that's how Tessa found herself walking through the streets of Alicante, chatting to Jem and licking her favourite ice cream; frozen custard and butter pecan. "People who tell you it's too cold to eat ice cream are the kind of negativity you don't need in your life, Tessa." Jem said, licking his white chocolate and raspberry ice cream. Tessa laughed and led him up the road to her favourite spot in town.

They were both out of breath by the time they reached the top of the hill. "This is it," Tessa exclaimed. They overlooked pretty much the whole of Alicante, which lay sprawled before them like a satellite map. The tops of roofs and cobblestone streets created patterns that weaved an image of an organized city, like the threads woven to form a tapestry. Vibrant colour bloomed from the florist shop and Alicante Park, as well as the ever-changing glow from traffic lights along the main streets. Tessa could also spot the red roof of the ice cream shop they'd just come from. Where they were standing, they were suspended on an old, ethical looking wooden bridge, held above a gentle cascade of river known as Faerie Falls.

"It's beautiful," Jem commented as he leaned against the bridge railings and took in the view.

"It's my favourite place in Alicante, it makes me take a step back from everything." Tessa joined Jem beside the rails and gazed up at the sky, which was stained grey and threatening to spill rain over the city. Jem and Tessa finished their ice creams and chatted. Tessa inquired further about Will and his whereabouts and she briefly learnt about the family Will was going home to face. Tessa learnt that Will grew up in Wales, had a sister called "Cecily", and his parents were "Edmund Herondale and Lynette Owens." With a shock, Tessa instantly recognized one of those names.

"You're telling me," Tessa said to Jem in shock. "That Will's mother is Lynette Owens - the prime minister of Wales? Also the author of _Violets Are Purple Not Blue_?"

"That's correct. Lynette kept her maiden name," Jem said with a small smile. "Will grew up in Wales with his family, but ran away at a young age. He hated the lifestyle, or so he says."

"You don't believe that?" Tessa asked.

"Well, how could _Will Herondale_ despise being one of the most respected and listened to family's in the country?"

"Maybe he didn't like being overshadowed by his Mother," Tessa laughed, but the information still shocked Tessa. Of all the years at Alicante High, Tessa had never known Will's origins. She knew that he boarded at Alicante High, but she had never seen his family. Although Tessa remembered coming across a Cecily through her Facebook stalking, she had assumed Cecily was a cousin.

"So how do you know Will?" Tessa asked Jem, looking at him sidelong. His face was cast in light, as the sun made a rare appearance from behind a thick gray cloud, and Tessa watched the reflection of the glittering river below them flicker like diamonds across his pale skin.

"I was born in Shanghai, my mother was Chinese and my British father moved to be with her when they fell in love." _Ah, that explains his heritage,_ Tessa thought, admiring his beautifully delicate features that were now deep in reverie.

"Our parents were business partners, until…" Jem's face fell slightly and his eyes flicked down to look at his hands, gripping the wooden bridge railing. "My parents died and I was sent to live on a farm, not far from where Will lived in Wales. His mother arranged it, after he heard of my parents passing; said she was in debt to my family." Jem smiled softly and looked up at Tessa.

"Oh, Jem!" She said, feeling her heart tear for the boy standing beside her. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents. I know the feeling, both my parents are dead too." Tessa said softly, and without thinking, she slid her hand that was resting on the railing so that it touched Jem's. She felt the warmth radiate from his hand as he gently placed his over hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. That simple gesture spoke a thousand words, and although Tessa wasn't usually one for this kind of thing, she felt comfortable and thankful for the sweet boy beside her.

"I'm sorry to hear that too, Tessa," Jem said, his eyes a swirl of soft silver.

"Wait, you lived on a farm?" Tessa asked after a little pause.

He let out a little laugh; "I did, and Will used to visit me. The mayor's son and the farm boy. We formed an unlikely but tight bond; we were like brothers. Then one day he ran away and I heard he was boarding at a school in Alicante. It shocked everyone, and in a way I resented him for leaving me. It was selfish, but I missed him. He wrote to me, though, and asked me to join him. I wanted to see Will again, but couldn't leave the farm owners, my foster family, who had taken me in and treated me so well. It wasn't until recently that the farm got sold to make room for a new highway. My foster family moved to New Zealand and I finally decided to take up Will's offer," Jem smiled. "And here I am."

Tessa was blown away, "That's an amazing story." She breathed. "So, now you board with Will?"

"I do, and after this year we're planning on traveling a bit, backpacking and seeing where it takes us. We've both always felt we needed to travel and gain those kinds of experiences." He breathed and Tessa could tell he was in a far away place, but then blinked back to reality as he turned to face Tessa with a smile. Jem had the most beautiful smiles and what Tessa loved about them is that she could tell they were always genuine. He didn't force a smile or do it for show; he smiled because he truly meant it. Tessa admired that and she couldn't help but smile herself.

* * *

 **CLARY POV:**

It was just past midnight and Clary lay wake in bed, staring up at the glow in the dark stars tacked to her ceiling. Jonathon had helped her put them up when she was about five and she still hadn't taken them down. Sure, Clary couldn't really be bothered to, but although they were childish, she felt like taking the stars down would be yet another change; another step away from childhood, as well as Jonathon. Clary feared the day all of her childhood memories would become blurry and fragmented, as if they belonged to someone else in another life, an alternate universe. Besides, Clary liked stars, the way they held a sense of infinite promise, the way the stars were always there and always glowing, but you could only see their true beauty in the dark. Clary liked to think the best people were like the stars; they shone their brightest through the darkest of times.

Clary turned on her lamp and looked over at her mood board, pinned to the wall beside her bed. It was a grid set up so that everyday of the year was represented by a square, each line a month. At the end of everyday, Clary would colour in the square for that day depending on her mood or what kind of day it was. The past month on her mood board had been a roller coaster; it ranged from a series of yellow coloured "good days", to green coloured "average days", to blue coloured "down days." The past few days in particular had been "down days". Clary would like to think she had shone like the stars through her dark time, but truthfully, she didn't think she had.

She had wondered around school in a trance, going to her classes, sitting with the group in their courtyard through breaks. Tessa and Izzy in particular had been giving her worrying looks, but she'd brushed them off. She was fine. Both Jace and Sebastian had been suspended from school the days that followed the fight. She had tried to talk to Jace but he had ignored all of her texts and eventually Clary had given up.

As if on cue, Clary's phone buzzed from her nightstand.

 **Jace: If ur awake come to the tree house.**

Thinking of the devil... Freaky.

Pulling aside her already disheveled duvet, Clary got out of bed and padded across the room to pull aside her curtains. Grabbing a torch from one of her draws, Clary slowly and quietly inched open her window and clambered out onto the aluminum roof. Clary couldn't help but look up at the stars, however they were obscured from view behind thick cloud. With a gentle sigh, she carefully treaded along the roofing until she was in line with the tree house. Clary crouched and reached for the closest branch of the old oak tree, attempting to swing herself through more gracefully than she did last time.

Jace still startled as her feet thudded against the floor of the tree house. He was sitting down, leaning against one of the sidewalls and twisting the ring on his finger around and around. "I didn't think you'd come, I didn't even think you'd be awake." Jace said hazily.

He had a lit a few of the DIY rainbow candlesticks in the tree house that they had all made for an art project when they were younger. The flickering glow of the candlelight dimly illuminated Jace's face and Clary involuntarily let out a small gasp as she took in the dark purple blotches of bruises that bloomed along his cheek and jawbone, as well as a fainter one circling his left eye. His hands, still twisting the ring around his finger were also bruised at the knuckles. Clary felt a burning hot anger and hatred at Sebastian.

Clary was still standing on the spot and realized she had no idea what she was doing there. She hadn't even given a second thought before she'd quite literally jumped out her window to meet Jace in the middle of the night. Again. "Of course I came."

Jace motioned to the space beside him and Clary moved to sit by him, close but with a little distance between them. "Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely meaning the feeling her words held.

"I'm fine," he said. The words Clary herself had been saying for the past week.

"No, you're really not." She whispered, not even knowing why she was suddenly whispering. She looked at his hands that were resting on his lap, still twisting the ring. When he didn't say anything she said; "That's your family ring, isn't it?" It was a silver band decorated with a circle of herons. He'd always worn it, even when he was a kid and it was too big to fit his fingers, he wore it around his neck on a length of string like a necklace.

"Yeah, it is," he said, taking it off his finger and angling it so that the candlelight illuminated the pattern of herons. "My father always wore it." Clary was caught a little off guard; Jace didn't really talk about his family, he always kept those things to himself. He was a closed book.

Clary held up her right hand to reveal her own ring, a silver band like Jace's that had a pattern of fairy wings etched. "My mother gave me this, it's the Fairchild ring." Many families in Alicante came from old, traditional families that possessed a family ring that got passed down through the generations.

"Jonathon used to wear it," Jace said eyeing her hand: It was the one that got hit in the fight. Her hand had puffed up and swollen and the nurse had told Clary it was sprained and that she should keep it bandaged. Clary wouldn't have cared about the injury, however it was a problem, as she couldn't do any art without her hand prickling in pain. Jace took her hand to inspect it. His hand was warm and careful against hers, the purple-blue bruises of his knuckles standing out startlingly against Clary's fair skin. Jace turned to look at her, still holding her hand in his. "He won't ever touch you again, I'll make sure of it." Jace's eyes were a soft melted caramel in the candlelight as he looked at her. Clary shivered suddenly and uncontrollably under his gaze. "Are you cold?" He asked, looking over Clary's flannel pajama pants and green tank top. Clary felt her cheeks flush and she opened her mouth, but Jace had gotten up to grab an old blanket from a box in the corner, which they used to use as an extra blanket for tree house sleepovers. He carefully draped it over her and sat back down.

* * *

 **JACE POV:**

They ended up talking for a while more into the night. There was just something about Clary's presence that comforted Jace and put him at ease. At some point she had slid down the wall to lie down facing him. She looked so small buried under the blanket and Jace felt a strong desire to protect her from everything harsh in the world. In the candlelight, her hair glinted copper and spilled around her in a perfect mess where she lay. _But her eyes._ She looked at him as they spoke with quiet voices that lightly cut through the night, her eyes piercing him with startling greenness of them. They were large, curious, innocent eyes that shone bright through the darkness and filled the treehouse with warmth. They transfixed Jace. Had they always been so beautiful?

He noticed when she began to get tired and their conversation become more drawn out; and before he knew it, Clary was asleep. She looked so peaceful, like an angel as she lay there, her lips twitching slightly in sleep. Jace was tired, so tired; he hadn't slept in a while, hadn't slept a good sleep anyway. He lay down beside her and closed his eyes and before he knew it, he was dreaming of angels.

 _ **AUTHORS NOTE: This was a slightly longer chapter than usual... thoughts? X**_


	11. Chapter 10 - A New Light, An Old Home

_**AN: Sorry for not uploading in a while, life has gotten in the way but please let me know what you think? Maybe that will motivate me to keep writing.**_

 **CLARY POV:**

Clary awoke to the sound of birds chirping insistently around her. She groggily opened her eyes in confusion to find herself lying on the floor of the tree house, Jace beside her. They must have moved closer together during the night, sharing the blanket, as her head rest upon his shoulder and one of his arms was draped over Clary. Their bodies were flush so she could feel the heat radiating from his, the soft material of his sweatpants against her bare legs. Clary flushed and carefully untangled herself from him before it hit her; it was Monday morning.

"Jace! Jace, wake up!" Clary hissed until he peeked an eye open, gazing up at her in confusion.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he cocked a lopsided grin. "I like your hair." Clary self-consciously reached for her hair to find it in a messy bedhead tangle, before narrowing her eyes at him, her blush deepening.

"Could say the same, _prince charming."_ She said, eyeing his mop of golden locks but was annoyed to notice that despite it's disheveled state, it still looked good, possibly even cuter than usual. Clary's gaze slid from his hair to find his golden eyes taking in her nightgown; it was a light purple with lace straps and exposed perhaps too much leg. It was probably the nicest nightwear she owned, thankfully she hadn't been wearing her Whinny The Pooh set again.

"We're late," Clary blurted out and his eyes flicked back up to hers.

"For what?"

"School!"

"Eh, it can wait."

"I'm not an astronomer, but I'm pretty sure that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not you, Jace."

Jace grinned at her. "Oh, but I'm as hot as the sun so surely that counts for something."

Clary rolled her eyes and reached out the tree house, for the branch to swing herself back onto her roof.

"Wait," Jace said, "I'll drive."

* * *

Ten minutes later Clary was sitting in the front seat of Jace's car.

"We're late for first period anyway so why not take a coffee stop, you're pretty much shaking from lack of caffeine, Clary."

"I am not." Clary held out a hand in proof. It shook.

"See."

"It's the road movements, doesn't count," Clary huffed but couldn't suppress the small smile that escaped her lips.

"You're so easy to wind up, carrot top."

"Carrot top? What are you, twelve?"

"Yeah, on a scale of one to ten."

Clary huffed again and glanced at him sideways. She didn't know if it was the mood or possibly her lack of sleep, but it was as if she was seeing him differently. In a new light in a literal sense, as the early morning rays created a visual symphony of his face; exposing him in all his glory and as if some God, or fate even, was giving Clary a sign. Also, a new light in a metaphorical sense; suddenly, a flip had been switched and Clary seeing what was in front of her for the first time. He was Jace, but suddenly his very name took on a new meaning when she thought it, wrapped in a fuzzy feeling of euphoria. In a split second, a thousand thoughts and feelings hit Clary at once.

"Clary?"

Clary blinked and realized Jace was parked outside the café.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked what you wanted, unless you wanted to come with?"

"Oh, um, just a flat white please." She smiled at him for good measure and with an amused look, Jace went to go order.

"Oh dear, Clary," she spoke outloud in the empty truck, staring at her reflection in the window. "You're fucked."

* * *

 **WILL POV:**

Humid Welsh air enveloped Will in a welcoming hug the moment he stepped off the plane. A warm breeze stirred the dark curls at the base of his neck and awoke his Welsh blood. He was home.

After making his was through airport security and claiming his luggage, Will tentatively made his way towards the arrival gate where his family would be waiting. Will hadn't seen them in eight years; eight years in which Will had grown from a boy to a young man. Would time make him a stranger to his family? Subconsciously, Will grazed his hand over the fine whisper of stubble scattered on his jawline; a hint at manhood.

Fear suddenly gripped Will in its vice, rooting him to the spot as he took in deep, shuddering breaths of stale airport air. Pushing through his fear, Will ground his teeth and rounded the corner. Without warning, a warm mass barreled into Will, causing the breath to be suddenly knocked out of him and he dropped the bag he was carrying.

"Will, it's really you! Oh, Will!" She released him slightly, enough so that he could peer into startlingly familiar blue eyes leaking a trail of glistening tears that ran down her creamy skin like pearls.

"Cecy," Will breathed, as he took in his younger sister, who wasn't the young girl she had been when Will had left. Cecily held him tight again and Will buried his head in her silky raven hair, smelling the familiar scent of their grapefruit shampoo and something else distinctly Cecily. When he looked up, Will saw his parents standing slightly afar, watching the siblings embrace with warm, heartfelt smiles.

Even though eight years had passed, Will was still startled to notice the grey that peppered his fathers once raven dark hair, the deep laugh lines marking the extra years of memories Will had missed out on. His father raised a hand in greeting and Lynette Herondale smiled at her son; trademark blue eyes twinkled and wrinkled around the corners. Cecily finally let Will go and led him towards their parents. He couldn't help but notice the cameras and trail of reporters lined up behind them, eager for the story of the prime ministers son returning home. Will inwardly grimaced but Cecily gave him a smug, sidelong glance. "Soak it in, brother."

* * *

A Mercedes arrived to pick them up and his luggage was loaded into the trunk. Soon enough, they had escaped the hub of the city and were zooming through the all-too-familiar Welsh countryside. Will wound the window down and leant partway out the frame, allowing soothing countryside air to wash over him, whipping his hair back. His Welsh blood sung with pure joy; rolling green hills stretched for as far as the eye could see and with a pang, Will realized how much he had missed Wales, how much he had missed home.

A while later, the car rolled up affront the Herondale estate, set among sweeping hills, acres of fields and trees. Will drew a breath as he took in the grand white pillars snaked with well-pruned vines, supporting three expansive floors. The gurgling water fountain greeted Will as the driver held the door open for him and he treaded up the cobblestone path that led to the house. Cecy eagerly grabbed his bags and ran ahead of him, beckoning over her shoulder as long, silky black hair flicked and trailed her like a cape.

The grand stairway was still decorated in photos; gilded frames containing frozen memories of him and Cecily – and – Ella. Will sucked in a breath as he stopped climbing the steps. His hand that had been gliding along the railing, reached out to the closest image of his older, dead sister. Will was hit with a wave of repressed sorrow as he drunk in the all the details of the photo, a moment frozen in place for eternity. Will had run away thinking he could leave it all behind him, only to find that the past awaited him back home. Old scars opened up to become fresh wounds. However, since then, Will had learnt how to face his burdens. He took the photo of Ella off the wall, extracted the glossy image it out of the frame and carefully tucked it in his pocket as he continued up the grand spiral stairway. With each step, both Will and Ella's photos started appearing less and less, frames filled by the older version of Cecily that Will was still getting used to, or otherwise, simply left empty.

Will's bedroom, situated at the end of the hallway overlooking the front gardens and driveway, looked the exact same as he had left it. Four grey walls – Will humorously noted that were close to the shade of Tessa's eyes -, a simple four-poster bed, desk and bookshelf crammed with an array of books.

"Welcome home, Will!" Cecily said cheerily from his window; the same window they had climbed out countless times as children to stargaze on the roof, to hide during games of hide and seek, or to spy on their parent's guests. Cecily's smile faltered, looking uneasy, as she following the path of a vehicle snaking up the driveway. "Will, there's something I should warn you about-"

"Will! Cecily! Come down for dinner, we have guests!" Their mother called from downstairs, her voice winding up the stairway and piercing Will's heart with it's aching familiarity. Cecily's throat bobbed as she swallowed her words, peering back out the window. In two strides Will was at Cecily's side and followed her gaze to see an unfamiliar, swish white limo idling in the drive.

Will quickly changed into appropriate evening wear, and then he made his way back down the spiralling staircase to the main dining room on the first floor. The maid whom Will recognised as Agatha, was laying plates of steaming entrées affront his parents, Cecily and three guests.

"Will," Lynette said, in her warm but clipped voice that Will had learnt to associate with business. "I'd like to introduce you to the Ashdown's." Will politely inclined his head in greeting, the way he'd been taught years ago as proper adequate. "And Miss Scarlett Ashdown, well, she is to be your fiancé."


	12. Chapter 11 - Heartbreak and Coffee

**TESSA POV:**

Tessa was elbow deep in a bowl with flour everywhere and kneading pizza dough when the phone rang. "Aunty, could you get that?" Tessa called, and went back to her dough. It had been a good week, busy but good. Romeo and Juliet was only weeks away and it was starting to come together. What had made the week especially good though, was Jem. Jem was so easy to get along with and had almost been filling the space Will had taken up.

"Tessa, honey, it's for you," her Aunt said, entering the kitchen. "It's Clary, should I tell her you have your hands full?"

"It's okay, tell her I'll be a sec."

Tessa quickly ran her hands under the water before taking the phone off her Aunt.

"Hey, Clary."

"Tessa! Look at channel 3."

"Why?"

"Just do it, now!'

"Okay, gimmie a sec!" Tessa said as she pointed the remote at the TV and stood in front of it, drying her hands on the apron she was wearing.

" _-The Welsh Prime Minister is to meet with representatives of congress this evening, discussing the new ties between Wales and-"_

"What am I looking at, Clary?" Tessa asked confused, then suddenly her heart skipped a beat as the camera cut to a pair of startlingly familiar blue eyes. Will appeared on screen and Tessa remembered what Jem had told her about Will's mother being Lynette Herondale, Prime Minister of Wales.

The shot changed and suddenly Tessa's blood ran cold. Will was sitting next to a pretty blonde girl. He wasn't just sitting next to her, he was holding her hand and she was leaning into his side.

" _With the recent return of Master Herondale, the childhood sweethearts have recently announced their engagement-"_ Tessa felt the air suddenly escape her and she stumbled, falling backwards to collapse of the sofa.

"Tessa, are you seeing this? Or should I say _him?_ " Clary said from the other end of the line.

He was engaged. To be married. With another girl. No, not just a girl, a freaking _princess._

"Tessa?"

"Hey, yeah, I'm here."

"Did you know about this? His Mum is a freaking Prime Minister and now he's engaged to some princess?"

"Jem told me about his Mum, but," Tessa was still trying to comprehend it. Why would he flirt with Tessa if he had a girlfriend? Was he leading her on or did he really only see her as a friend. A deep and sorrowful pang went through Tessa as she tried to make sense of the situation.

"I have to go, but I'll text ya later, okay?" Clary said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, sure. Cya." Tessa hung up the phone. She stabbed the off button on the remote and threw it across the room before burying her head in a cushion to stifle the sudden sob.

* * *

A few hours later, Tessa was distracting herself with study, when her phone buzzed from her bed. Glancing at the clock, Tessa was surprised to see it was after 10pm and put her biology notes back in her ring binder, satisfied at how long she had managed to keep her mind busy, away from the thought of –

 **Will: Hey Tess**

He had text her, for the first time in days. She felt a small escape her lips before she remembered; _he was_ _freaking engaged._ What a wild concept to grasp, they were only seventeen after all. Tessa put her phone back down and crawled into bed with _The Notebook,_ then remembered why she had started reading it, threw it across the room with a slight grimace, and picked up _Great Expectations_ instead.

Twenty minutes later her phone buzzed again. Tessa couldn't help but peek at it.

 **Will: I miss you, cutie x**

This was why Tessa had been confused. And was still confused. All the flirting and flirty banter, the small comments and compliments sprinkled here and there. Just enough to make her feel special. He had even started sending "x's" and calling her pet names. You don't do that with friends, do you?

Tessa picked up her phone and typed a reply: **Hey, what's up.**

He replied instantly.

 **Will: Just thinking about you, hby? X**

Another message came.

 **Will: Send pics, bby? X** Tessa furrowed her brow and shot upright in bed.

 _No, no, no, Surely this was not happening,_ she thought. _This was not Will._

Tessa thumbed a reply: **What?**

 **Will: You know what I mean ;)**

 **Tessa: Will, I saw you're engaged?**

 **Will: Oh yeah… that's sweet tho, just don't tell the press XD.**

Tessa could not believe what she was reading, had someone taken his phone? Was this some sort of sick prank? He had played her, she was his side chick and that's all she had been. Tessa's fairytale endings and naïve hopes and dreams crashed and burnt in that single moment. In the next, she typed a reply, then preceded to block his number.

 **Tessa: You're not the person I thought you were.**

* * *

It was a Monday morning, 8:03 to be exact, and Tessa was walking to meet Clary before school. Will had gotten back from Wales the day before. Music blasted through Tessa's earphones and for the first time in her life, Tessa could actually relate to the lyrics of the song. Lyrics about players, girls who got used and were too naive to see the truth.

Will.

She couldn't believe him. What. An. Idiot. And that made Tessa an absolute fool for thinking otherwise, for choosing to see the right in him. For thinking they had something special and that he actually _liked_ her. _Ha!_ Tessa was so full of emotions she felt she might burst. There were snakes coiled up inside of Tessa and poison flooded her veins, fuelling her with a powerful, spiteful energy. Tessa walked in pace to the beat if the song and turned the volume up as loud as it could go.

About 10 minutes later, Tessa arrived at the café where she was meeting Clary for their Friday morning caffeine fix. Clary was already there, surprisingly on time and had her own earphones in which she took out when she saw Tessa. Tessa did the same and turned down the volume on her IPod as she could still hear the music faintly blasting through the earphones.

"Good morning," Clary said, cautiously looking at Tessa.

"Morning," Tessa forced her facial muscles into a small smile and they fell into step, walking up the path to the café.

"Want to talk about it?" Clary asked, not needing to say what _it_ was. Tessa could see the pity in her eyes and although Clary meant well, it only made Tessa feel more pathetic. After blocking Will, Tessa had skyped Clary and told her everything. She had let out all of the confusion and the anger and the sadness and Clary had comforted her into the early hours of the morning. A five-year crush. Maybe that was why they called them crushes, because that's what they did to you; crushed your naive and vulnerable heart into dust.

"It's okay," Tessa said; she couldn't comprehend the thoughts swarming through her sleep-deprived head to even string out a coherent sentence about _it_. "Tell me about your art; how's that going?" Tessa asked instead as she held the coffee shop door open, the aroma of fresh coffee welcoming them into the warmth of the café.

Clary blushed slightly and it was only because of her fair skin that it was noticeable; a pink flush colouring her cheeks. "I've found a direction, but I don't know if it's… going to work."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I want to use a subject for a part of my board, and there's someone specific I want to use, because of their particular features." Clary said, the colour on her cheeks darkening as the girls moved up a place to become the front of the cue.

"A mocha and a caramel latte please," Clary said to the expectant barrister, reciting their usual order and handing over a note; they took turns paying each week.

The barrister had frizzy blonde hair that was pulled into two space buns; she took their order with a warm smile and gave them the correct change. Clary and Tessa then fell into the unoccupied sofa to wait.

"Wait, so a human subject?" Tessa repeated, picking up the conversation again.

"Yeah,"

"Who?"

"Um,"

"Clary, tell meeeee."

"Fine, Jace." Clary said in a small voice, a rosy red in full bloom on her cheeks. Tessa raised an eyebrow, then instantly lowered it, realizing it was a mannerism that she had picked up from Will.

"Do explain," Tessa said in amusement.

"I don't know, I've just always wanted to draw him. I've been experimenting with gold colours lately and it's just given me this vision," she sighed and bit her lip. "Do you think there's a chance he'd let me draw him? It's… kind of weird, isn't it, especially considering our history and all."

"I'm sure a Herondale wouldn't turn down the offer to do some modeling," Tessa said. They stood as their order was called and said thanks to the lady with space buns as she handed over their coffees. Tessa took a sip of her mocha; not the best she'd had from the café, but good enough considering the busyness that morning. The café was steadily becoming more popular, especially with the students from Alicante High who were catching word of it. As they left, Tessa was about to suggest to Clary that they might need to find a new café for their Monday morning caffeine fixes, when they rounded the corner and walked straight into the gang. The guy gang.

Will was in the dead center of the pack, his features blank of expression. Clary must have noticed the slight falter in Tessa's step, as she looped an arm supportively through Tessa's and gave her a sidelong look; _don't let him get to you._

The gang saw Clary and Tessa and stopped when they were standing in front of them, blocking the sidewalk.

"Morning ladies," Jace greeted, followed by a nod of acknowledgement from Alec, and a smile from Jem. Will remained expressionless, and Kaelie – who as usual, was stuck to Jace's side, let out a high-pitched giggle and glared at Clary and Tessa. A look of annoyance passed over Jace's features as he looked at Kaelie.

"Excuse us, you're blocking the way," Clary said sharply, glaring right back a Kaelie.

"How rude, not even a polite hello?" Will spoke, looking right at Tessa as she turned her attention to him. His ink black hair was tousled and stirred slightly in the brisk wind, hands buried in his pockets, a careless stance. _Arrogant prick._

Will smirked, raising an eyebrow - _that damn eyebrow quirk!_ "What did you just call me?" He asked, amused and Tessa realized that she must have spoken aloud.

"Nothing," Tessa muttered, tightening her told on both her coffee cup and Clary's arm as she tried to collect herself and keep her anger in check. _Breathe, Tessa. He's just an idiot; don't let him get to you._

"He's not worth it, let's go." Clary said, speaking Tessa thoughts as they moved forward, in an attempt to cut through the gang in front of them.

"Will, don't," Jem said sternly, but suddenly Will was standing in front of her, a smug look on his face as he looked down at her through thick, dark lashes. "I don't get what your problem is, Tessa. You had your chance."

Tessa couldn't control the fiery rage and hurt that sharply rose up inside of her. Everything she'd been bottling up over the past few days suddenly rose to the surface, like the cork had suddenly popped, spewing its messy contents.

"I'd like to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my ass," Clary burst at him at the same time, in one movement, Tessa took the lid off her coffee cup and hurled the innards at Will.

As if in slow motion, she watched as the toffee brown liquid became a misshaped mass suspended and moving through in the air. Then time sped up again as Will yelped in surprise and the hot coffee hit him. The others jumped aside a moment too late, unsuccessfully avoiding the stray splashes. Will stood before them, coated in coffee that satisfyingly dripped from his arms and once-white shirt. His face was in shock as he looked up from himself to stare at Tessa with wide, alert eyes. Man, did it feel good to shock Will enough to, for once, be speechless. Tessa knew she had the upper hand and that in itself was satisfying.

Jem grinned and let out an entertained little laugh, which he attempted to hide with a cough. Kaelie's mouth formed a perfect "O", but for once, no words came out. Alec was paused in a crouch looking from Will to Tessa, mid retying his shoelace. Jace's mouth quirked up at the corner in amusement as he eyed Tessa in what looked like approvement.

"Excuse us," Tessa said curtly, licking the foam off the lid of the coffee cup she was till holding, and cut through the gang who parted to let them pass, still appearing to be in a daze.

"Might I just say; that was _beautiful_." Clary's green eyes glittered in glee and she grinned, giving Tessa's arm an approving squeeze as they again fell into step. Tessa and Clary continued their walk to school; the gang left watching after them in a mixture of disbelief and amazement.


End file.
